It seem that HTML5 has won Flash on mobile devices and Adobe recognizes it. Adobe ceases development on mobile browser Flash, refocuses efforts on HTML5. HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively. This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms.
Flash to Focus on PC Browsing and Mobile Apps; Adobe to More Aggressively Contribute to HTML5 article will tell you more details.
34 Comments
Tomi says:
Adobe recently ditched further development on Flash as a mobile platform, finally acknowledging that the service is too energy hungry and slow on mobile platforms.
Silverlight 5 will be released to developers this month, but after that the future of the platform looks dark. It’s possible that Microsoft will be tempted to nix their fancy dev platform for the same reasons that Adobe dropped theirs.
Microsoft hasn’t denied rumours that they are about to pull the plug on Silverlight, its development platform for rich Web design. Often compared to Flash, Silverlight could be about to get the same treatment as Adobe’s platform and get dumped in favour of leaner, quicker, more energy-efficient HTML5.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/10/microsoft_killing_silverlight_rumours/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe interest in Flex platform to make Flash and AIR applications seems to have also dropped:
http://blogs.adobe.com/flex/2011/11/your-questions-about-flex.html
Apache is planning to contribute the Flex SDK to an open source foundation in the same way we contributed PhoneGap to the Apache Foundation when they acquired Nitobi.
Flex SDK feature development will continue under a new governance model and Adobe will continue to contribute to the Flex SDK.
Adobe in the long-term believes that HTML5 will be the best technology for enterprise application development. In fact, many of the engineers and product managers who worked on Flex SDK will be moving to work on our HTML efforts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe Flex SDK bombshell STUNS developers
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/15/adobe_donates_flex_sdk_to_open_source/
Adobe is to hand over its Flex SDK, which lets you develop applications for the Flash runtime using XML and ActionScript code, to an open source foundation. The company is committing to HTML 5 as the “best technology for enterprise application development”, according to a statement issued on Friday, November 11 by two Adobe product managers.
The news has caused consternation among Flex developers. “It feels as though Adobe is completely abandoning Flex, and ultimately Flash … My company has invested millions into committing to Flex for our enterprise applications and now I don’t know what to tell them.” says Erich Cervantez, senior Flex developer for a large chain of health clubs.
Adobe is working with the Open Spoon Foundation, established by Adobe to support and promote the Flex community and to work on the Flex SDK, which is already open source though under Adobe’s control.
http://www.spoon.as/
Adobe says it is still committed to Flex and still committed to Flash Builder, the Flex IDE based on Eclipse. If that is the case then placing the SDK under the control of an independent foundation might be a good thing for the technology, or it could be the beginning of the end as the company distances itself from the project.
Even if it so desires, Adobe cannot transition to HTML 5 instantly, and nor can its customers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Flash not coming to Ice Cream Sandwich–Yet
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57328606-17/flash-not-coming-to-ice-cream-sandwich-yet/
Currently, Adobe’s Flash Player only works with Android versions 2.2 to 3.2, according to its Android Market listing.
Although Flash has been a staple on Android, don’t expect to find it in Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) just yet. Adobe told the site that Ice Cream Sandwich support is coming by the end of 2011.
Future versions of Android, however, will not get Flash, the company told Pocket-Lint.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe: Flash for Android 4.0 before end of 2011, no Flash for Android 5.0
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/43152/flash-for-android-4-end-2011-no-flash-for-android-5
Adobe has confirmed to Pocket-lint that it plans to release Flash for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich by the end of 2011, but it will be the last update going forward. That means that there will be a Flash-free future for Android beyond ICS.
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube’s HTML5 Player Gets Better
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2011/11/youtubes-html5-player-gets-better.html
YouTube’s HTML5 player has improved a lot lately and it’s almost ready to replace the Flash player. You can enable annotations and captions, the contextual menu lets you copy the embedding code and the video’s URL, full-screen support, etc..
Check it at http://www.youtube.com/html5
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gone in a Flash: Adobe’s long march to HTML5
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/29/flash_rise_and_fall/
Rise and fall of the Flash Player
Is this the end for Flash, and how did we reach this point?
Flash already looked wounded, not just by iOS, but by Microsoft’s decision to exclude Flash from the Metro browser in Windows 8. Just as Microsoft came to accept that Silverlight could not compete with HTML, so now Adobe has made the same decision with regards to Flash.
It will not be easy for Adobe to gradually disentangle itself from Flash and to win back the trust of its community, but it is now well-placed to target HTML 5 in a single-minded manner, rather than juggling with the demands of two platforms.
Tomi says:
5 things to know: Adobe drops Flash
What this decision means for mobile device web designers
http://www2.electronicproducts.com/5_things_to_know_Adobe_drops_Flash-article-fajb_adobe_flash_dec2011-html.aspx
Here are five things you should know about this move:
1. Flash was never going to work in the mobile market
There’s far too much fragmentation within the mobile market for Adobe to ever be successful in creating a universally acceptable Flash Player.
Apple’s iOS — was never going to allow Flash Player in its browser
2. It’s HTML5 time
3. Users consume content differently on their mobile device
Studies show that a majority of mobile users go to their apps for the content they seek, as opposed to their smartphone’s web browser.
4. Things done on mobile browsers in the past with Flash will increasingly be done via HTML5 / CSS3
5. Flash will continue to be developed where it makes the most sense — PC web browsing
Advanced gaming and premium video, in particular, are probably the best two areas for Flash to continue to grow.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Forecast: 1 Billion HTML5 Phones By 2013
http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/07/forecast-1-billion-html5-phones-by-2013/
There will be one billion HTML5-capable phones sold in 2013, according to new research from Strategy Analytics. The number represents a (huge, huge) increase from the 336 million units sold in 2011.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft slips out Silverlight 5
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/12/10/microsoft_silverlight_5/
There has been speculation that this could be the last version of Silverlight Microsoft ships, after redundancies on the team and questions raised over the company’s commitment to cross-browser support and developer relations. Redmond is saying it will support this build until 2021, and is still winning new customers, so there may be life in the old dog yet
Tomi Engdahl says:
TeleNav launches browser-based turn-by-turn GPS navigation using HTML 5
http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/14/telenav-launches-browser-based-turn-by-turn-gps-navigation-using/
Now, the company has unveiled plans to put its navigation in every HTML5-capable browser on the planet, and the best part is, it’s free. The new service is available now for a select group of developers, who can add TeleNav’s voice-guided GPS by plugging in a single line of code into their websites or apps.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HTML5 cross-platform game company Moblyng shuts down (exclusive)
http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/07/html5-cross-platform-game-company-moblyng-shuts-down-exclusive/
Moblyng was ahead of its time in making cross-platform HTML5 games for mobile devices. Too far ahead, it seems, as the company has shut down, VentureBeat has learned.
Stewart Putney, believed that HTML5 games were going to become predominant on mobile devices in the future. The benefit was that developers could create games once and have them run on a wide variety of devices as well as on social networks and the web. For users, such games meant that they could play a game on one device and challenge another player playing the same game on another platform.
HTML5 is viewed as the lingua franca of the web, a protocol for creating software that can run on web sites, mobile phones, and social networks. But in games, HTML5 has had mixed results, since many games in HTML5 run slow.
Moblyng had alliances with Playdom and Lolapps, but it had more success creating its own games that could run in a cross-platform manner
“I remain very confident HTML5 will be a great platform for social games and media, it is simply a question of when.
A variety of other HTML5 game makers out there, such as Game Closure and Sibblingz, which have also created tools for building cross-platform HTML5 games.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Opera TV Store opens, brings HTML5 web apps to devices everywhere
http://www.geek.com/articles/news/opera-tv-store-opens-brings-html5-web-apps-to-devices-everywhere-2012019/
At IFA 2011, Opera turned some heads by showing off something unexpected — the Opera TV Store. Now, at CES, the company has announced that the Store is officially open for business.
The goal of the Store is to offer consumers a way to enjoy web content and apps in an intuitive, big screen-friendly way.
Right now, Opera is busy pitching the TV Store to device makers, content providers, and developers. For those interested in putting together apps for Opera TV, they’ve offered up a fully-functional emulator that you can run inside VirtualBox.
Tomi Engdahl says:
PhoneGap is an HTML5 app platform that allows you to author native applications with web technologies and get access to APIs and app stores. PhoneGap leverages web technologies developers already know best… HTML and JavaScript.
http://phonegap.com/
Full Support for PhoneGap on Windows Phone is Now Complete!
http://blogs.technet.com/b/port25/archive/2011/12/19/full-support-for-phonegap-on-windows-phone-is-now-complete.aspx
We’re also pleased to note that all features in PhoneGap 1.3 are now supported for Windows Phone. Microsoft was helping to bring Windows Phone support in PhoneGap.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sandboxed Flash Player Coming To Firefox
http://news.slashdot.org/story/12/02/06/2147219/sandboxed-flash-player-coming-to-firefox
“Adobe, which has spent the last few years trying to dig out of a deep hole of vulnerabilities and buggy code, is making a major change to Flash, adding a sandbox to the version of the player that runs in Firefox. The sandbox is designed to prevent many common exploit techniques against Flash. The move by Adobe comes roughly a year after the company added a sandbox to Flash for Google Chrome
They isolated plugins (incl Flash and Silverlight) from crashing the browser a long time ago. Version 3.6 or something.
Switching from on-board to usb audio on windows 7 reliably hangs flash for me.
However, you CAN do something about it! Find the right plugin-container.exe process (usually easy because it’s the one taking hundreds of megabytes) and kill it. Firefox will now resume and give you the “your plugin has crashed” screen wherever flash was embedded previously.
Chrome Already sandboxes Flash, but only if you turn it on, and only in the DEV branch (Version 17 is current dev version as of this writing).
You can turn it on as explained here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/116560594978217291380/posts/CJvbAMkBiNf [google.com]
Adobe adds Flash sandboxing to Firefox
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/07/adobe_sandbox_firefox/
Adobe has released beta code for sandboxing its heavily hacked Flash code within Firefox, in a similar fashion to the Chrome security protections added to its Reader software and Google’s Chrome browser.
“Sandboxing technology has proven very effective in protecting users by increasing the cost and complexity of authoring effective exploits,” said Peleus Uhley, senior security researcher for Adobe in a blog post.
Adobe used elements of the sandboxing technology Google had built into Chrome for its Reader code, after a string of attacks against the popular Flash platform.
The code will work with Firefox 4.0 or later versions running on Windows 7 or Vista.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe Makes Flash on GNU/Linux Chrome-Only
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/02/22/1323204/adobe-makes-flash-on-gnulinux-chrome-only
“Adobe has anounced their plans to abandon future updates of their Flash player for Linux. Partnering with Google, after the release of 11.2, ‘the Flash Player browser plugin for Linux will only be available via the ‘Pepper’ API as part of the Google Chrome browser distribution and will no longer be available as a direct download from Adobe.’ Viva la HTML 5!”
Adobe and Google Partnering for Flash Player on Linux
http://blogs.adobe.com/flashplayer/2012/02/adobe-and-google-partnering-for-flash-player-on-linux.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe to use Google’s Pepper API for future Flash support on Linux
Could finally kill Flash for Linux
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2154741/adobe-googles-pepper-api-future-flash-support-linux
Adobe’s Flash Player might not be long for this world, thanks to HTML5, but it is still widely used and Adobe has sought help from Google to release a Pepper implementation of its software that will run on Google’s Chrome web browser. According to Adobe, Google will distribute this Pepper Flash Player as part of Chrome on all operating systems later this year.
Adobe went on to say that future updates to Flash Player beyond version 11.2 for Linux will be available only through the Pepper API and not through a download from Adobe directly. However the firm went on to reassure users of non-Pepper versions of its Flash Player on Linux that it will continue to issue security updates.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Apple’s blocking of Flash on iOS platforms sounded the death knell for Adobe’s Flash in 2011, which shrank 11 per cent (to 12,247 jobs). We believe that online jobs related to Flash will be in terminal decline by mid-2012,” the report added.
Source: The Inquirer (http://s.tt/15RjM)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Further, it seems while IE 10 will run on the desktop and Metro editions of Windows 8, plug-ins for Microsoft’s browser aren’t being allowed on ARM full-stop. That means no Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight, ruling out many line-of-business apps, web media and ads.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/13/woa_office_15_ie10_clearer/
Kontrollraum says:
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Mozilla Debates Supporting H.264 In Firefox Via System Codecs
http://news.slashdot.org/story/12/03/13/2027215/mozilla-debates-supporting-h264-in-firefox-via-system-codecs
Adoption of the HTML5 video element has been hampered by the lack of a universal video format that is supported in all browsers. Mozilla previously rejected the popular H.264 video codec because it is patent-encumbered and would require implementors to pay royalty fees. The organization is now rethinking its position and is preparing to add support for H.264 video decoding in mobile Firefox via codecs that are provided by the underlying operating system or hardware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Survey: Android programmers shifting toward Web apps
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-57400136-2/survey-android-programmers-shifting-toward-web-apps/
Difficulties coding for Google’s mobile OS are pushing programmers toward Web apps instead, an Appcelerator survey finds. But Google+ has lots of traction.
Apparently Web applications–those built with technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that run using a browser engine–answer at least some of Google’s fragmentation challenges. Web apps rose slightly to 67 percent, passing Android tablets in the last quarter.
“That’s the response to fragmentation,” King said.
Appcelerator asked if HTML5 was going to be a component of people’s apps in 2012, and 79 percent it was. But only 6 percent plan to make all-out Web app that runs in a browser; a much larger 72 percent plan a hybrid approach that wraps native interface elements around an app that relies on a browser engine behind the scenes.
“A hybrid has some native code on device, but content will be delivered via HTML,” King said. “Google Maps is a good example.”
Google might be disappointed to hear of Android’s waning fortunes, but it’s also got a major Web app push, especially for personal computers running its Chrome browser and Chromebooks running its Chrome OS.
Right now Android uses an unbranded Google browser, but Google has introduced a version of Chrome for Android that eventually will serve as the back-end engine for hybrid apps.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Got a Profitable Flash-Based Videogame? Adobe Wants a Cut
http://www.webmonkey.com/2012/03/got-a-profitable-flash-based-video-game-adobe-wants-a-cut/
Adobe has released Flash Player 11.2 and has decided it’s high time the once-ubiquitous browser plug-in started earning the company a bit of money.
Starting Aug. 1, 2012, Adobe will begin taking a 9 percent cut of game developers’ net revenue over $50,000.
For most Flash developers that means the new revenue sharing plan will not have any effect, but for the very successful companies building Flash-based games using the new domain memory in combination with the Stage 3D hardware acceleration, the change may affect the bottom line. Users of Flash Player 11 don’t need to pay anything.
There are two exceptions to Adobe’s new revenue-sharing model. The first way to avoid it is to crank out your app now, before that Aug. 1 deadline arrives. The second option is to switch over the developing for AIR, in which case there is no revenue sharing. That means that the new rules don’t apply to any AIR apps compiled to standalone apps for iOS or Android.
So what are you getting for your 9 percent fee? Access to what Adobe is calling Flash’s “premium” features category. The premium features all revolve around the hardware-accelerated Stage 3D graphics in Flash Player 11.
COMMENTS:
Wow. I guess Adobe really wants to kill Flash.
They already get a “cut”. When you buy their massively overpriced software.
I think Adobe have done this because there are now alternatives to using their (expensive) tools, while still being able to deploy on the ubiquitous Flash player. The best example is Unity3D.
Screw Adobe, just build it in HTML5 that’s going to be the next Flash anyhow.
Adobe is a profit whore, it doesn’t care about its customers.
What is really needed is a cross-platform open source, hardware acccelerated api (such as WebGL).
The reality is that, if you want to build a quality 3D game for the mass web market, Flash is currently the only ubiquitous platform available. HTML5 (WebGL) will get there eventually, but you would be brave to bet on it today.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mozilla may make Flash click-to-play by default in future Firefox
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2012/04/mozilla-may-make-flash-click-to-play-by-default-in-future-firefox.ars
Firefox developers are considering making Web plugins like Adobe Flash an opt-in feature. Although there is still a long way to go before it’s ready for Firefox proper, switching to an opt-in, “click-to-play” approach for plugins could help make Firefox faster, more secure, and a bit easier on the laptop battery.
A very early version of the “click-to-play” option for plugins is now available in the Firefox nightly channel. Once that’s installed you’ll need to type about:config in your URL bar and then search for and enable the plugins.click_to_play flag. Once that’s done, visit a page with Flash content and it won’t load until you click on it.
While HTML5 reduces the need for Flash and other plugins, they’re still a big part of the Web today. Even where HTML5 has had great success—like the video tag—it hasn’t yet solved every publisher’s problems and remains incapable of some of the things Flash can do. That means Flash will likely remain a necessary part of the Web for at least a few more years.
At the same time, Flash and other plugins are often responsible for poor performance and security vulnerabilities. So if something is necessary, but can slow down your browser and can be the source of attacks, what do you do?
Another popular solution is the click-to-play approach that Mozilla developers are considering. It’s not a new solution, as Chrome already offers the option, but so far no Web browser has yet made it the default behavior.
Visit a webpage with embedded Flash content when Flashblock or something similar is installed and you’ll see a static image where the Flash movie would normally be playing. Click the image and then the plugin loads.
Whether or not the click-to-play approach that Mozilla is considering will ever become the default behavior for Firefox remains to be seen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows 8 Secrets: Internet Explorer 10 will Ship with Adobe Flash
http://www.withinwindows.com/2012/05/23/windows-8-secrets-internet-explorer-10-will-ship-with-adobe-flash/
Two years ago, Microsoft declared that the future of video on the web would be powered by HTML 5. Today, however, a lot of web video content is still delivered via Adobe Flash technology. So, in a somewhat surprising move, Microsoft is integrating Flash directly into Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 and doing so in a way that does not undermine the safety and reliability of the Metro environment.
Before this, the general assumption was that Microsoft would pursue only web-standard technologies in IE 10. But with the Metro version of IE 10 not offering users the ability to extend the capabilities of the browser with add-ons, the software giant realized this may be too restrictive for consumers. So how could it meet the needs of consumers by providing Flash in a way that didn’t subvert Metro?
Interestingly, they were able to do so without contradicting any of the earlier statements the company made about web standards and Flash in IE.
As Mr. Hachamovitch noted, Microsoft does work closely with Adobe, closely enough that Adobe actually provided Microsoft with source code access to Flash, allowing them to seamlessly integrate the technology into IE 10.
Tomi Engdahl says:
No Flash for Android is 4.1 Jelly Bean
Adobe announced last winter withdrew its mobile Flash
The company is not saying that Flash is not working with a new software platform, but Adobe does not, however, publish it to any patches or updates. This applies on Wednesday released Google ‘s Nexus 7-tablets, which is one of the first new Android-powered devices.
Adobe plans to focus on the HTML5 standard because HTML5′s support has become more common in many mobile devices.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/adobe+ei+flashia+android+41+jelly+beaniin/a819963?s=r&wtm=tietoviikko/-29062012&
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe confirms it won’t support Flash on Android 4.1, stops new Flash installs from Google Play on August 15th
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/28/adobe-confirms-it-wont-support-flash-on-android-4-1/
Adobe was very public about dropping mobile Flash last fall. In case that wasn’t clear enough, the developer just drew a line in the sand: Android 4.1 doesn’t, and won’t ever, get certification for Flash.
The company is stopping short of saying that Flash won’t run, but it’s evident that Adobe won’t help you if the web browser plugin doesn’t install (or breaks in spectacular fashion) on that Nexus 7.
The company had already said that HTML5 was the way forward on phones and tablets
Tomi Engdahl says:
Flash for Android dies today, long live the ‘full web experience’
http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/14/3241727/flash-for-android-dies
In November of last year, Adobe made a surprising about-face on its popular Flash plugin, announcing that it would stop development of Flash for mobile devices.
Today, Adobe will disable new installs of Flash on Android, effectively cutting it off from the future of the mobile web — despite the company’s historical assertion that Flash would enable the “full web experience” on mobile devices. Adobe had grand plans for mobile Flash, but the company met a sizable early wall when Apple refused to adopt it.
Instead, Adobe surrendered the major mobile battlegrounds and pledged allegiance to HTML5. Adobe strongly endorsed HTML5 as the “best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across multiple platforms,” instead of Flash.
Adobe, of course, is not giving up by any means: the company’s roadmap includes plans to focus on gaming and “premium video,” and the company will continue to support Flash on PCs. Still, it’s hard to imagine Flash’s ongoing relevance in a world that’s increasingly mobile, and Adobe’s support for HTML5 doesn’t bode well for the plugin: in a web with increasingly less Flash, HTML5 will soon provide the “full web experience” for most users.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ADOBE FLASH PLAYER is no longer available to download from Google Play, a move that signals the end of Flash for Android.
The Inquirer (http://s.tt/1kS53)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe Flash Player returns to Google Play store in UK, thanks to BBC
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/47255/asobe-flash-bbc-iplayer-android-uk-returns
Adobe Flash is available in the Google Play for UK Android users following pressure from a group of strategic partners including the BBC.
“Flash Player continues to be available on Google Play for users in the UK for a short while due to requests from strategic partners,” a spokesperson for Adobe told the BBC.
The Beeb says that it asked Adobe to bring back the app because it uses Flash as the underpinning technology for the corporations BBC’s iPlayer application and it is thought that the move is to allow users to still continue to use the iPlayer on the go on Android devices.
No date has been set for when Flash will be removed from Google Play for a second time, and the app has only been reinstated in the Google Play UK store.
“Flash Player is no longer being updated for new device configurations,” the listing states. “Flash Player will not be supported on any Android version beyond Android 4.0.x.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe’s revenge on Steve Jobs: HTML5
Bloated Flash daddy offers web a new hope
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/03/open_and_shut_adobe_html5/
Despite significant investments from Microsoft, Google, and others, HTML5 remains not quite good enough for a range of apps. So says Mark Zuckerberg, but I also heard that this week from the chief technology officer of a large media company. Rather than gloat over HTML5′s long road to native app parity, though, he fretted about how much money is being wasted rebuilding the same app multiple times for disparate platforms.
In other words, HTML5′s as-yet unfulfilled promise is minting money for app development shops.
My hope? The company that gave us Flash, Adobe, has jumped into HTML5 with both feet, buying Nitobi, the sponsor of the popular PhoneGap project, and releasing a promising set of HTML5 authoring tools. Adobe, once pilloried by Steve Jobs for inflicting bloated Flash on the industry, may come back to haunt Apple by replacing native iOS development with serious HTML5 development tools. Apple was one of the earliest advocates for HTML5, and Steve Jobs chided Adobe for its proprietary approach to Flash.
But Adobe may have the last laugh, if its HTML5 tools work as advertised (so far, so good) and it is able to advance the state of the art for HTML5 functionality.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft Silverlight: shattered into a million broken urls
http://www.itwriting.com/blog/6924-microsoft-silverlight-shattered-into-a-million-broken-urls.html
There has been some Twitter chatter about the closure of silverlight.net, Microsoft’s official site for its lightweight .NET client platform. multimedia player and browser plug-in.
One of the things this demonstrates is how short-sighted it is to create these mini-sites with their own top-level domain. It illustrates how fractured Microsoft is, with individual teams doing their own thing regardless. Microsoft has dozens of these sites, such as windowsazure.com, windowsphone.com, asp.net, and so on; there is little consistency of style, and when someone decides to fold one of these back to the main site, all the links die.
What about Silverlight though? It was always going to be a struggle against Flash, but Silverlight was a great technical achievement and I see it as client-side .NET done right, lightweight, secure, and powerful. It is easy to find flaws. Microsoft should have retained the cross-platform vision it started with; it should have worked wholeheartedly with the Mono team for Linux-based platforms; it should have retained parity between Windows and Mac; it should never have compromised Silverlight with the COM support that arrived in Silverlight 4.
The reasons for the absence of Silverlight in the Windows Runtime on Windows 8, and in both Metro and desktop environments in Windows RT, are likely political. The ability to run Silverlight apps on Surface RT would enhance the platform, and if COM support were removed, without compromising security.
Microsoft’s Silverlight dream is over
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ease the transition from Flash to HTML5.
As devices and platforms multiply, it’s more challenging than ever to create expressive content that can reach the widest audience possible. The Adobe® Flash® Professional Toolkit for CreateJS — a complimentary extension available for Flash Professional CS6 users — enables you to leverage the rich animation and drawing capabilities of Flash Professional while you make the transition to creating HTML5-based content.
Convert your library to JavaScript in one click
Traditionally, interactive designers have leveraged Flash Professional to create assets that target both the Flash Player and Adobe AIR® runtimes. With the Flash Professional Toolkit for CreateJS, you can now easily export assets and animations to JavaScript using the open source CreateJS framework. The output generates nicely formatted, readable, and editable JavaScript code. This can jump-start your ability to design highly expressive content that runs in any HTML5-compatible mobile or desktop browser
Source: http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/flash-to-html5.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Steve Jobs’ death clears way for Adobe CTO defection
WTF: Why The Flash did Macromedia bloke join Apple
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/21/kevin_lynch_joins_apple/
“Flash is a cross-platform development tool. It is not Adobe’s goal to help developers write the best iPhone, iPod and iPad apps. It is their goal to help developers write cross-platform apps. And Adobe has been painfully slow to adopt enhancements to Apple’s platforms,” said Steve Jobs in his Thoughts on Flash, in April 2010.
Apple followed up with a change in its terms for developers, later withdrawn, that required iOS applications to be “originally written in Objective-C, C, C++ or JavaScript”. It was a war against Flash, won by Apple.