Microsoft, like Apple, refused to support Flash technology in the new browser Metro IE10, giving a similar argument
In one of the two versions of the Internet Explorer browser that comes bundled with the Windows 8 operating system, expansion modules, in particular Adobe Flash, will not be supported.
Explanation of the reasons why Microsoft chose this decision, given by Din Khachamovich, head of the Internet Explorer development team, can cause a sense of deja vu. More than a year ago, Steve Jobs, then Apple CEO, explained almost the same words to the decision to abandon Flash support on the iPhone and iPad.
The evaluation version of Windows 8 for developers includes Internet Explorer 10, which is available in two forms. In one, its appearance and management principles are the same as in the new Metro interface of the future operating system. The other has a traditional view and operates in the desktop of the usual form, also accessible to users of Windows 8. Metro interface is largely based on the interface of Windows Phone 7, the main innovation in it are animated icons, so-called tiles. The version of the browser, implemented in the same style, Microsoft called "IE in the style of Metro".
“The Metro-style browser in Windows 8 is based on HTML5 as much as possible and does not involve the installation of add-on modules,” explained Khachamovich. “The nature of the work of the extension modules in their current form does not fit well with navigation in the Metro style and modern HTML5-based web content.”
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Both versions of IE10 use the same rendering engine.
Since Metro IE10 does not support expansion modules, it does not support Flash technology either. Khachamovich stressed that this is not just a “visualization tool”, but an independent application.
“Using the IE browser in the Metro style allows for a more economical use of battery life, increases safety, reliability and guarantees greater confidentiality,” Khachamovich said.
These are the reasons - safety, reliability, performance and power saving issues - Jobs called in an extensive letter to Thoughts on Flash (Reflections on Flash), published in April 2010 explaining the reasons for banning Flash in iOS.
“We know firsthand that Flash is the most common cause of failure on our Mac computers,” Jobs wrote. “We don’t want to risk the reliability and security of the iPhone, iPod and iPad while supporting Flash.”
In the Metro IE10 browser, expansion modules, including Flash, will not be supported, therefore, on some sites, the design of which includes elements based on this technology, users will have to see white rectangles.
Khachamovich noted that Microsoft, after analyzing 97 thousand of the most popular sites in the world, found that 62% of them in the absence of Flash give way to HTML5. Jobs also spoke about this in 2010, when he commented on his decision “against” Adobe.
Expansion modules, including Flash, will be supported in the traditional desktop version of IE10. Switching between them will not be difficult for users. For example, when you see white spots on a particular site in Metro, you can familiarize yourself with their content after switching to the “desktop” mode.
Any type of browser can be made the default browser on a PC running Windows 8.
In touchscreen devices such as tablet computers, Metro IE10 is likely to become the preferred version of the browser. Their hardware platform - ARM core processors or other integrated processors of the System on Chip category (System on Chip, SoC) - only supports Metro applications in the Windows 8 version for alternative Intel architectures.
Khachamovich made a statement anticipating criticism of such a double browser solution.
“You can, of course, criticize the solution with two browsers,” said Khachamovich. - But they are based on a single mechanism, they just have two different 'skins'. Over time, the principle implemented in Metro will win a place in an increasing number of browser scenarios. ”
According to Al Hilvy, an IDC analyst, the presence of two browsers should not be a cause for concern among Windows 8 users.
“I don’t see this as a problem, since the base technology is one,” Hilwa said. “The two 'faces' of the browser show only that the developer took into account both styles of working with Windows 8. Touch control obviously requires a new programming model and new approaches, which Microsoft provided.”
Metro IE10 is provided only as part of the evaluation version of Windows 8 for developers. You can get a preview of the new OS on the Microsoft website.
The desktop version of IE10 with support for extension modules shows sites correctly.
Explanation of the reasons why Microsoft chose this decision, given by Din Khachamovich, head of the Internet Explorer development team, can cause a sense of deja vu. More than a year ago, Steve Jobs, then Apple CEO, explained almost the same words to the decision to abandon Flash support on the iPhone and iPad.
The evaluation version of Windows 8 for developers includes Internet Explorer 10, which is available in two forms. In one, its appearance and management principles are the same as in the new Metro interface of the future operating system. The other has a traditional view and operates in the desktop of the usual form, also accessible to users of Windows 8. Metro interface is largely based on the interface of Windows Phone 7, the main innovation in it are animated icons, so-called tiles. The version of the browser, implemented in the same style, Microsoft called "IE in the style of Metro".
“The Metro-style browser in Windows 8 is based on HTML5 as much as possible and does not involve the installation of add-on modules,” explained Khachamovich. “The nature of the work of the extension modules in their current form does not fit well with navigation in the Metro style and modern HTML5-based web content.”
')
Both versions of IE10 use the same rendering engine.
Since Metro IE10 does not support expansion modules, it does not support Flash technology either. Khachamovich stressed that this is not just a “visualization tool”, but an independent application.
“Using the IE browser in the Metro style allows for a more economical use of battery life, increases safety, reliability and guarantees greater confidentiality,” Khachamovich said.
These are the reasons - safety, reliability, performance and power saving issues - Jobs called in an extensive letter to Thoughts on Flash (Reflections on Flash), published in April 2010 explaining the reasons for banning Flash in iOS.
“We know firsthand that Flash is the most common cause of failure on our Mac computers,” Jobs wrote. “We don’t want to risk the reliability and security of the iPhone, iPod and iPad while supporting Flash.”
In the Metro IE10 browser, expansion modules, including Flash, will not be supported, therefore, on some sites, the design of which includes elements based on this technology, users will have to see white rectangles.
Khachamovich noted that Microsoft, after analyzing 97 thousand of the most popular sites in the world, found that 62% of them in the absence of Flash give way to HTML5. Jobs also spoke about this in 2010, when he commented on his decision “against” Adobe.
Expansion modules, including Flash, will be supported in the traditional desktop version of IE10. Switching between them will not be difficult for users. For example, when you see white spots on a particular site in Metro, you can familiarize yourself with their content after switching to the “desktop” mode.
Any type of browser can be made the default browser on a PC running Windows 8.
In touchscreen devices such as tablet computers, Metro IE10 is likely to become the preferred version of the browser. Their hardware platform - ARM core processors or other integrated processors of the System on Chip category (System on Chip, SoC) - only supports Metro applications in the Windows 8 version for alternative Intel architectures.
Khachamovich made a statement anticipating criticism of such a double browser solution.
“You can, of course, criticize the solution with two browsers,” said Khachamovich. - But they are based on a single mechanism, they just have two different 'skins'. Over time, the principle implemented in Metro will win a place in an increasing number of browser scenarios. ”
According to Al Hilvy, an IDC analyst, the presence of two browsers should not be a cause for concern among Windows 8 users.
“I don’t see this as a problem, since the base technology is one,” Hilwa said. “The two 'faces' of the browser show only that the developer took into account both styles of working with Windows 8. Touch control obviously requires a new programming model and new approaches, which Microsoft provided.”
Metro IE10 is provided only as part of the evaluation version of Windows 8 for developers. You can get a preview of the new OS on the Microsoft website.
The desktop version of IE10 with support for extension modules shows sites correctly.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/129427/
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