Microsoft uses Flash Player for Vista Launch
DIGG IT!
Published
Monday, January 29, 2007
at
9:42 AM
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Microsoft launched several Flash applications over the past week in preparation for the launch of Windows Vista. There is some serious irony here folks. Vista provides a "New and Exciting" rich user experience, yet nearly all of the GUI features can be delivered today using Flash Player with Flex or Flash, cross-platform, cross-browser independent of the operating system today to 97% of computers.ShowUsYourWow.msn.com
Windows Vista
See Windows Vista
Microsoft is again proving that Flash Player is the defacto-standard for delivering great experiences today because it is widely deployable to 97% of computers. Flash provides rich experiences with reach. It will be a very very very long time before Blend/WPF/E has that type of reach and compatibility. I am sure they will get to 50% quickly using Windows Auto-Update but the last 47% is going to be very difficult, if not impossible.
The funny part will be watching Microsoft undo their own Flash sites after Blend ships, if they can do it at all. I think they will have a very difficult time justifying a switch when WPF/E features are not even at the Flash 5 level and deployment compatibility starts at 0% for a version 1.0 MS product. (Personally I think it will be DOA.)
Also if you like the Vista UI, you should check out the skins posted by Juan Sanchez over at scalenine.com for Flex 2. These skins are great as you can make any Flex 2 app look like iTunes, OSX, Windows XP, or Vista.
Vista Skin for Flex 2.0
Skin Swapper with Flex - iTunes, Vista, Obsidian (at runtime)
The fact is that with Flash, "The Wow" started in 1996 some 10 years earlier. It is great that Microsoft is spending Billion to showcase Flash like this and suddenly championing that user experience matters.
ps: MS PR department please comment away! No novels in the comments this time Scott and Co.
Ted :)