14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8’s Metro-style Internet Explorer 10 was designed without support for plugins, Microsoft announced a few months back, but it seems that things are not entirely so.
According to the latest rumors on the matter, the Redmond-based software company is currently working on packing support for Adobe’s Flash Player within the browser.
Reportedly, Microsoft decided that there are certain scenarios in which users will need support for Flash in their browser, and it has made its move in this direction.
The Metro-style Internet Explorer 10 will offer the benefits of Flash in a few situations only, so as to ensure that battery life, security, and reliability remain untouched.
The feature will be visible in the upcoming Windows 8 Release Preview, which is expected to become available in early June.
Apparently, although it initially targeted a plugin-free environment for Windows 8’s Metro IE10, Microsoft took into consideration the fact that not all content on the web is HTML5-ready.
One thing that users should keep in mind is that the Metro IE10 won’t arrive with support for all Flash content out there.
Another important aspect of the deal is that Flash will be integrated directly into Internet Explorer, as Adobe provided Microsoft with access to the source code of its product.
Last year, Adobe announced that Flash is moving to discontinuation, on mobile devices at least, though it is still supported on a variety of platforms out there.
With Windows RT set to arrive on shelves mainly as a mobile OS, dominated by the new Metro interface, it will be the only version of Windows 8 to be “affected” by the lack of support for add-ons in Internet Explorer.
Other browsers designed for the OS, such as Mozilla’s Firefox or Google’s Chrome, won’t provide users with add-ons support either, since Microsoft plans a consistent experience for its users. The two internet giants already expressed their disapproval of this.