Internet Explorer 9 will support HTML5!

[str1f3]

http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/198306.asp?from=blog_last3

Suprised that this was not mentioned by LTD or others. Game over for Flash in terms of web pages and Internet video.

For those questioning MS's intentions, Siverlight also supports the ability to stream h.264 if Silverlight is not installed. BTW, Silverlight is far better than Flash on the Mac. It's almost as good as h.264. It was a smart move by MS because they get to kill Flash while networks will support their standard due to copyright protection. That battle can be fought later as major networks begin to understand Linux is as important as well.

This truly means Flash is dead and the beginning of the open web for video.

 

[SactoGuy18]

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all the Microsoft seriously considers putting Silverlight code into GPL 3.0 Open Source license. That plus HTML 5.0 would finish off Flash in no time flat.

But I see IE 9.0 supporting HTML 5.0 for one reason: Google's new online apps, especially Google Wave. Imagine NOT having to load another web browser to run Wave--very desirable in business environments.

 

[Chundles]

Pretty sure they'll manage to screw it up somehow...

 

[xUKHCx]

It is possible to download and run the developer preview, not for the faint of heart and not for those on XP.

They also have a range of demo tests about what they are targeting with IE9 on their site:

http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Default.html

 

[roadbloc]

Yeeesss!!!! Whooo! Drinks All Round Goddamit! Its Time To Celebrate!

 

[wrldwzrd89]

This is indeed a welcome change from Microsoft. IE9 + HTML5 = win. However... I hope you don't mind me positing this rumor. I've heard rumblings of this from deep within MS for a long time. I think Microsoft's going to do an OSX-style transformation of IE with version 10, modeled on what Apple did with Mac OS 9 -> Mac OS X. The biggest change, besides the user-visible things: No more Trident rendering engine as the default.

 

[mkrishnan]

Siverlight also supports the ability to stream h.264 if Silverlight is not installed.

I don't understand this? I'm pretty sure Silverlight doesn't support doing anything, if Silverlight isn't installed? At least, in other HTML5 browsers, with no Silverlight plugin, I just get a "you need this plugin" message like I do with anything else....

Good for MS, anyways. Netflix was a pretty compelling sale to me of Silverlight -- viewing video on Netflix with Silverlight is a much better experience than Hulu or other Flash-based sites.

 

[xUKHCx]

No more Trident rendering engine as the default.

I have heard that too but I doubt it. What would they move to?

 

[str1f3]

I don't understand this? I'm pretty sure Silverlight doesn't support doing anything, if Silverlight isn't installed? At least, in other HTML5 browsers, with no Silverlight plugin, I just get a "you need this plugin" message like I do with anything else....

Good for MS, anyways. Netflix was a pretty compelling sale to me of Silverlight -- viewing video on Netflix with Silverlight is a much better experience than Hulu or other Flash-based sites.

Silverlight does support h.264 streaming. Here is an example of it working:

http://www.iis.net/iphone

This is Silverlight streaming h.264 and pretty well at that.


However what it doesn't support are animated & interactive web pages using Silverlight. This will be far less of an issue because major websites would rather switch to HTML5 because it is standards compliant and is compatible with iDevices.

 

[mkrishnan]

Silverlight does support h.264 streaming.

Sorry -- you said Silverlight supports H.264, even if the Silverlight plugin is NOT installed on the client computer? That's the part I didn't understand. So you're talking about that server-side technology that was used to demonstrate Silverlight on the iPhone? Ahhh, okay.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I have heard that too but I doubt it. What would they move to?

Even they don't know yet... but WebKit looks like a strong contender.

 

[xUKHCx]

Even they don't know yet... but WebKit looks like a strong contender.

It is a strong contender however webkit seems to be diverging between all of the different platforms that it is on.

Investing in HTML5, hardware acceleration, etc. now would be a little pointless if in 12-18 months after the release of IE9 they are going to drop the back end. I think this investment now is a sign of a commitment for the future.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

It is a strong contender however webkit seems to be diverging between all of the different platforms that it is on.

Investing in HTML5, hardware acceleration, etc. now would be a little pointless if in 12-18 months after the release of IE9 they are going to drop the back end. I think this investment now is a sign of a commitment for the future.

True. Perhaps MS still is considering this option, but has put it on the back burner after finding a way to make IE at least in the same ballpark as the other major browsers.

 

[xUKHCx]

True. Perhaps MS still is considering this option, but has put it on the back burner after finding a way to make IE at least in the same ballpark as the other major browsers.

Oh I am sure that MS probably already has versions of IE that runs Webkit and Gecko in their labs so these rumors are probably well founded. The question of course is whether or not these make it out of the depths and into the real world.

With IE9 being released in, say, early 2011 the scope of the updates may not be as far reaching as necessary, because the competition will not be sitting on their hands for that time. I expect to see Opera approaching 11.0, Firefox may hit the big 4.0, Chrome may finally be released at version 6-8 rolleyes and Safari 5 will probably be in the near future.

I hope MS has more ambitious features that it is keeping under wraps as like it or not it will probably be the worlds number one and the browser that those of us who work in offices will be stuck with. For example in the last month or two I was finally upgraded to IE8 from IE6 .

 

[ArrowSmith]

Anything would be better then IE 8. It's still a hog & turd. My preference in browsers are Chrome, Firefox, IE/Safari.