[LINK] Flash

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Microsoft echoes Apple view on Adobe's Flash  http://www.reuters.com


(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp joined archrival Apple in criticizing Adobe's 
widely used Flash multimedia software, creating a rare bond among the two 
computing giants.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs sharply criticized Flash, which is used 
to produce videos and games for many Internet sites on Thursday. Apple 
has banned Flash from its iPhone and iPad.

A Microsoft executive pitched in later that day, saying while the 
ubiquity of Flash makes it easy for consumers to access video on the web, 
the standard has flaws.

"Flash does have some issues, particularly around reliability, security 
and performance," said Dean Hachamovitch, general manager for the 
Internet Explorer browser.

He said that Microsoft is backing the same protocols for delivering 
multimedia content over the Web that Apple is promoting, a group of 
standards known as HTML5.

But Microsoft was more conciliatory toward Adobe than Apple, saying it 
works closely with Flash engineers to help fix bugs that it finds in the 
product.

Steve Jobs, by comparison, said in his open letter that it is time for 
the industry to move beyond Flash.

"Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they 
want to push it beyond PCs," he said. "But the mobile era is about low 
power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards -- all areas where 
Flash falls short."

Meanwhile Adobe dismissed the claims, saying that Apple was simply trying 
to promote its own products..

Some 75 percent of all video on the web are Flash-based. 

Popular Flash-based sites such as Hulu can't run on the iPhone or iPad, 
according to Adobe. But sites like YouTube have worked around this by 
specially designing non-Flash apps for those devices.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

--

Cheers,
Stephen