IE10 will support Flash but only on selected websites
Not completely ditching third-party support
Microsoft has revealed that IE10 will indeed support Flash despite its push to HTML5, but not all sites will be supported.
According to screengrabs of the upcoming browser, there will be two versions of IE10 – one that's desktop based and one that's been given a Metro makeover. The latter is plug-in free but it seems there will be a version of Flash baked into the build.
This doesn't mean that all sites using Flash will be supported, however, as there's a whitelist of sites the browser will cater for.
These include YouTube, Vimeo, news sites such as the BBC, numerous gaming sites and Facebook. Oh, and TechRadar is on there as well.
If you want to view Flash content of sites not on this list, then you will have to switch to the plain-old desktop version.
Flash not quite in the pan
Adobe will be glad that Microsoft is taking this approach – even though the company is embracing HTML5 it won't have fully migrated by the time Windows 8 comes out.
To ease the process, it has opened up its code to the likes of Microsoft and Google so they can tweak it enough to fit it into their own software without fear of security issues or Flash slowing things down.
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According to Ars Technica, Windows RT – the ARM version of the software – will also have Flash thanks to the full-fat Flash player.
Interestingly, there's no word on what is happening with Microsoft's own plug-in Silverlight. As Netflix is on the 'Flash' whitelist, though, and doesn't actually use Flash it seems that a similar compromise will take place with this plug-in as well.
Microsoft is all set to release the Windows 8 Release Preview in early June.
Via Ars Technica
Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.