Windows 8, Flash and Silverlight: some very bad news

Monday, September 19th, 2011

In amongst the flood of details emerging about Windows 8 is the news that the IE 10 browser in the lightweight Metro front-end won’t support plugins. In the scheme of things this might sound pretty small beer, but it’s hugely significant for the long term future of Rich Internet Application (RIA) development and for the web in general.

Most immediately it’s another kick in the teeth for Flash, still reeling from Apple’s iOS ban. It’s not exactly a death blow, as the Windows 8 desktop version of IE will still support the player, but it’s clearly another major disincentive for developers who believed Flash was as universal as HTML.

Understandably all the focus has been on Flash, but even more telling and extraordinary is the realisation that the new no-plugin policy means that the Metro browser won’t even support Microsoft’s own cross-platform RIA technology, Silverlight!

So just what is going on?

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Apple vs Adobe: some surprising statistics

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

I recently came across a very interesting bit of analysis on the Macworld site. According to a survey by Net Markets based on usage share across 160 million unique visitors spread over 40,000 websites:

“Apple’s iOS mobile operating system is now the third most popular platform on the internet, with a share nearly six times larger than Android’s… more than enough to shove Linux off its perch as the third-place operating system on the web.”

Now that really does sound impressive, especially in the context of some quotes from Vince Vizzaccaro, a Net Applications vice president, regarding overall mobile share and the iOS percentage: “Mobile’s growth curve is strong and mobile is becoming quite a phenomenon on the internet… That’s massive when you think about it… we’re seeing iOS totally dominate the market on the web.”

So just what are these amazing figures?

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The benefits of new improved Flash

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

There’s a lot of debate at the moment about the future of the web and it’s clear that in many ways we’re standing at a crossroads. According to Adobe, “the next chapter of the web” is Flash and it is pushing the format hard with its latest Web Premium CS5 suite (arguably too hard).

According to Steve Jobs and Apple however, the web needs to be washed clean of this proprietary plague and the future belongs to HTML 5.

So which is it to be? Flash or vanilla? Adobe or Apple? Player or browser?

Based on the iPhone and iPad’s phenomenal sales, it’s clear that there are plenty of users happy to go with Jobs’ no-Flash option. After all, apart from video, is Flash really that integral to today’s web experience? It seems a very small price to pay for such undeniably brilliant hardware.

However, as the old adverts didn’t quite put it: “before you buy, have you considered the benefits of new improved Flash?”

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Can Your Browser Do This? Adaptive Layout

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Recently I wrote that what makes RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) different from browser-native web applications isn’t rich functionality or rich content but rich design. Moreover I argued that only a player-based approach (effectively Flash/Flex or Silverlight/WPF) can provide the platform necessary to take web design to the next level.

As I expected, the feedback to the piece centred on the best way of blocking Flash content as it always does whenever I mention the technology. It’s hardly surprising as the first thing that comes to most people’s mind when you mention Flash is irritating banner ads specifically intended to distract you from reading the real content of the page – the absolute definition of bad design.

However in the context of a RIA, Flash/Flex is capable of so much more – producing an end user experience that the browser alone can never hope to match… (more…)

Google and Rich Internet Applications (RIAs)

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of Google’s browser-native approach to web application development. Strategically I can see the advantages (wide and open access) and politically I think it’s admirable (open standards) but, in design terms, this lowest common denominator approach proves disastrous.

For example in a comparison between the barebones HTML-based Google Docs and the slick Flash-based Acrobat.com, I’d reserve the term RIA (rich internet application) for the latter and dismiss the former as a mere “web application” (more importantly I know which one I’d prefer to use).

Recently though I have to admit that Google caused my jaw to drop… and made me question the distinction.

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Silverlight 3 – First Thoughts

Friday, May 1st, 2009

If, like me, you didn’t make it to the MIX 09 jamboree you can always catch up via the videos posted over at visitmix.com - and you don’t have to go to Vegas. As expected, the major new announcement was the launch of a new Silverlight 3 runtime (though as a beta with no “go-live” licensing it’s only for developers).

Essentially Silverlight is designed to port Windows’ core WPF technology into a cross-platform  browser-based player like Flash. So what will the new version offer?

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JavaFX: the worst marketing spin in history

Friday, December 5th, 2008

And so Sun, the company that invented Java around ten years ago, has just released JavaFX. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt quite so cynically dismissive of a new software platform. It seems a desperately cack-handed move to get into the rich internet application market, and it comes at least three years too late. (more…)

What rights do I have to my photos? #!

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

Recently there’s been a lot of excitement about Adobe’s launch of a free online version of Photoshop, Photoshop Express. However the biggest squeals weren’t of delight and you only have to take a look at the original Terms and Conditions to see why…

8. Use of Your Content. Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However, with respect to Your Content that you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Services, you grant Adobe a worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such Content into other Materials or works in any format or medium now known or later developed.

You don’t have to be a lawyer to see that basically you were handing over your all rights as originator and giving Adobe free rein to make money from your photos however it saw fit!

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