Microsoft Follows Apple, Bans Flash From Windows 8 Tablet Software (MSFT, ADBE, AAPL)

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Looks like Microsoft is following Apple once again.

The Web browser in the tablet interface of Windows 8 won't support plug-ins, according to a post yesterday by IE leader Dean Hachamovich.

That means it won't run Flash.

The reasons are the same reasons Apple has refused to support Flash on the Web browsers on the iPad and iPhone. As Hachamovich wrote:

Running Metro style IE plug-in free improves battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers. Plug-ins were important early on in the web’s history. But the web has come a long way since then with HTML5. Providing compatibility with legacy plug-in technologies would detract from, rather than improve, the consumer experience of browsing in the Metro style UI. 

That does not mean that Flash is out of Internet Explorer or Windows 8 entirely.

Windows 8 will be a two-in-one operating system. It will include the Metro touch-screen interface for tablets or other touch devices (Microsoft is talking up touch-enabled monitors, for instance). That's what Microsoft is showing off at its Build developer conference this week.

But every copy of Windows will ALSO include a more traditional interface that's meant to be used with a keyboard and mouse. It will look a lot like Windows 7, only updated.

The version of IE in that interface will still support plug-ins, presumably including Flash.

Still, it's another blow for Adobe: Microsoft has basically agreed with Apple that Flash has no place in the post-PC future.

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Microsoft Finally Admits Windows Media Center Is A Dud (MSFT)

Microsoft has admitted that people just don't use the Media Center interface in Windows all that much.

Media Center gives people a special remote-controllable interface for watching TV and video, listening to music, and viewing photos.

It was introduced as a special version of Windows XP almost a decade ago, and later put into the high-end versions of Vista and Windows 7. PC makers sold a lot of copies of Windows with Media Center, and it has a devoted and vocal fan base.

But toward the end of today's post on the Building Windows 8 blog, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky shot down comments from Media Center enthusiasts who claimed that lots of people use it.

In fact, only 6% of Windows users ever open Media Center, and most just look at it for a minute or two. As Sinofsky wrote:

Our opt-in usage telemetry shows that in July, Windows Media Center was launched by 6% of Windows 7 users globally with the heaviest usage in Russia, Mexico, and Brazil (frequency and time). However, most people are just looking around; only one quarter (25% of 6%) of these people used it for more than 10 minutes per session (individual averages), and in 59% of Media Center sessions (by these 6% of users) we see almost no activity (less than a minute or two of usage). TV was the most common scenario we observed, and not surprisingly, traditional media (DVD and CD) are less common (and declining over time) than streaming and file-based content. By comparison, Media Player (66% of Windows users in July) and IE (88%) are popular rendering engines for all types of media content, including an increased volume of "premium" and streaming content.

Sinofsky insisted that Microsoft is still committed to Media Center, and it will be released in Windows 8 in some form. But it won't be in the early test versions -- including the build that Microsoft is showing off at its BUILD developers conference later this month.

In the same post, Sinofsky also addressed the feedback Microsoft has gotten about some parts of the Windows 8 interface, like the Windows Explorer, and said that the company is already making some changes based on that feedback.

Whether or not you agree with all the design choices Microsoft is making, this blog is proving to be a very interesting spotlight into how Microsoft works.

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LEAKED: Nokia's Very First Windows Phone 7 Handset (MSFT)

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A leaked slide presentation from Nokia is making the rounds today. It details the Nokia 703, which is likely the first Nokia handset made for Windows Phone 7, writes Japhet Writ of All We Like.

The blurry fine print in the bottom right reveals some specs on the device:

DISPLAY: LCD 480 x 800 pixels, 3.7 inches
CAMERA: 5MP, 720p at 30fps
MEMORY: 8GB storage, 512MB RAM

The slide points to a November release for the phone, which most likely means we can expect official word of it during Nokia World 2011 in October.

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