Reasons IE10 Will Not Support Plug-Ins

Microsoft’s soon-to-be-released Windows 8 has had many technophiles buzzing with the latest gossip of geekdom: Window 8’s Metro version of Internet Explorer 10, which is optimized for tablets, will not allow plug-ins such as Adobe Flash, which gives SEO agencies and their clients yet another reason to be wary of Flash. According to Internet Explorer (IE) team lead, Dean Hachamovitch, plug-ins would detract from the tablet user experience, and the lack of plug-ins for tablets “improves battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers.”

This move comes after a long period of testing and researching to determine just what the best experience for tablet users would be. After examining 97,000 of the world’s top websites, the IE team concluded the majority of the sites using Flash also include an HTML5 option as well, and for the sites you absolutely must see in Flash, tablet users can click the “Use Desktop View” button from the Metro style app to view sites requiring Microsoft’s legacy ActiveX controls. When all else fails, tablet users can always download a plug-in friendly browser.

Whatever the reason, this switch presents a challenge to many companies with Flash sites. As search behavior progresses further in the direction of mobile, we are likely to see technology changing just as rapidly, and a Flash-free user experience just may be part of the deal. If you are currently using a Flash website, then you may already be aware of the difficulties search engines have had in the past with indexing your site’s information. This latest plug-in free switch may be good motivation for Flash sites to make a switch of their own. If you are considering how to optimize your website, or how to convert to HTML, contact an SEO agency today to find out how your business can be ready for the next stage in search.