Microsoft announces IE9 will not support Flash

Software firm joins Apple in dumping the Adobe standard

Microsoft has confirmed that its upcoming Internet Explorer 9 browser will not support Flash, and will run only H.264 video in a move that aligns with Apple's current stance of not supporting the Adobe format.

Dean Hachamovitch, general manager for Internet Explorer, said in a blog post that the future of the web lies in HTML5 as it will help the development of rich, interactive web applications and offer the best choice for video support.

"The HTML5 specification describes video support without specifying a particular video format. We think H.264 is an excellent format. In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video only," he wrote.

"H.264 is an industry standard, with broad and strong hardware support. Because of this you can easily take what you record on a typical consumer video camera, put it on the web, and have it play in a web browser on any operating system or device with H.264 support."

Hachamovitch added that, while video on the web is "predominantly Flash-based " it still remains "a challenge for typical consumers". He said that Microsoft is in discussion with Adobe over these problems.

"Flash does have some issues, particularly around reliability, security and performance. We work closely with engineers at Adobe, sharing information about the issues we know of in ongoing technical discussions," he said.

The news will be a major blow for Adobe as the company is already locked in a bitter war of words with Apple over its refusal to support Flash.

Adobe chief executive Shantanu Narayen said yesterday in a response to Apple that his firm is banking on Adobe's multi-platform support as the key to victory in this conflict.

Source

I am actually gald about this. Adobe runtimes tend to be overbloated and unreliable.

Adobe products are the only ones that crash my 64-bit W7. Their updates are to frequent and bloated. They still don't support flash in 64-bit IE even though it has been around for years. And who the hell needs to down 30 or 40MB just to read a simple document.

I am hoping that flash will eventually do away in the same way the GIF gave to jpg.

I am also glad of this. Flash has become extremely bloated and makes some websites virtually out of bounds on my Athlon XP 3200 system. It slows everything to a crawl just to display some not so great looking moving adverts. Techeblog is prime example.


I remember the days when my Pentium II could browse the net with no problems at all. All this flash crap just wastes bandwidth.

@torque Firefox and the no script + adblock plugins and you'll never see a flash movie unless you allow it.

No-script and adblock plus are the reason I cannot use any browser other than FF.

IE 9 with no flash support, or FF with flash support, but only when you allow it to, I know which i'll be using.

I'll bear that in mind but last week I ripped my Opteron HTPC apart and rebuilt it as my main PC to browse in normality again. Use FF for Pr0n but use Chrome for everything else.

Adobe have been taking the p*ss for a few years now with their software. They have the upper hand where multimedia and A/V editing and development applications are the industry standard and have been getting away with murder releasing sub standard releases which you have to pay obscene amounts of money for.

Whenever they release software there are always really stupid bugs in them which severly hinder work flow.

Right now, there is a bug in Dreamweaver CS4 where when you are setting up a new site structure, you select the main root folder for the project/images/etc, and it will only select the parent folder!?!?!?! Known bug for thousands and thousands of users, been around for ages and they have no intention of fixing it. Their solution instead is to recommend you type it by hand & then purchace the new CS5 version.

Complete p*ss take and I hope this gives them a wakeup call; just too lazy making mountains of money on their software and royalties.

madeinbeats said:

Complete p*ss take and I hope this gives them a wakeup call; just too lazy making mountains of money on their software and royalties.

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Funny, because I am sure that is what people have been saying about M$ for years, hehe

zippyzippy said:

not support Flash, and will run only H.264 video in a move that aligns with Apple's current stance of not supporting the Adobe format.

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That explains a lot!

Anyone ever tried to watch Youtube on a MAC?

It's shit.

oneman said:

Funny, because I am sure that is what people have been saying about M$ for years, hehe

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True, exact same thing mate. They are the kings of their hills and the lack of competition makes them fat and lazy. Windows 7 aint so bad though...

oneman said:

I am actually gald about this. Adobe runtimes tend to be overbloated and unreliable.

Adobe products are the only ones that crash my 64-bit W7. Their updates are to frequent and bloated. They still don't support flash in 64-bit IE even though it has been around for years. And who the hell needs to down 30 or 40MB just to read a simple document.

I am hoping that flash will eventually do away in the same way the GIF gave to jpg.

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I totally agree with you there m8, Adode can be a nuisance on W7 64 bit. I like some of their products but hate the fact you have to installed 30+ mb just to read a pdf....Yes I know there are other pdf readers but why can't Adobe be as small as them.

Who installs Acrbat Reader anyway?

Foxit is far more useful IMO.

jaffa said:

I totally agree with you there m8, Adode can be a nuisance on W7 64 bit. I like some of their products but hate the fact you have to installed 30+ mb just to read a pdf....Yes I know there are other pdf readers but why can't Adobe be as small as them.

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I have done away with Adobe PDF reader now and only use Foxit PDF Reader, must faster, much less bloated... I recommend it.

A tip as well for any Outlook users, you can download a Foxit plugin for it so you can preview pdfs directly in the email.

Download and install foxit, you won't look back!

madeinbeats said:

I have done away with Adobe PDF reader now and only use Foxit PDF Reader, must faster, much less bloated... I recommend it.

A tip as well for any Outlook users, you can download a Foxit plugin for it so you can preview pdfs directly in the email.

Download and install foxit, you won't look back!

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Yes I use Foxit myself but really I shouldn't have too, only today Adobe flashed up on my W7 and said it wasn't working right, pain in the arse.

I am surprised people still use Adobe Reader for PDF's TBH, I did away with it years and years ago. Foxit for me too, or Nitro occasionally, in fact anything except Adobe! Lol

Shockingly bad software giant IMO, and (strangely) I fully support M$ on the Flash issue too.

jaffa said:

Yes I use Foxit myself but really I shouldn't have too, only today Adobe flashed up on my W7 and said it wasn't working right, pain in the arse.

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I suppose not working on Win7 64bt is one thing, but I know Adobe Reader is more bloated than other readers becasue the Adobe version has lots of advanced features that most of us don't use.

I read countless posts from people having software issues with Win64bit - just seems to be the way with 64bit at the moment...

when macromedia came on the scene it was a breath of fresh air - when adobe swollowed them up it killed them.

adobe are terrible for massive unruley products, constant updates and all sorts of compatability issues. this seems to be the right step for the everyday internet user - don't be tied to a particular product as it kills competition.