Microsoft Backs HTML5 with H.264, For IE9

[admin]

Another win for H.264 and HTML5 today as Microsoft announced that IE9 would support HTML5 with H.264 decoding. Both Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome have all come out to support HTML5 with H.264, so that just leaves Mozilla's Firefox, although H.264 support is unlikely to come to the second most popular browser in the world.

The "big boys", Apple, Microsoft and Google, can afford to pay for H.264 licensing and still keep their browsers free. Mozilla, being an open source project, is hesitant in this regards, especially since supporting H.264 will lock the browser into a licensing scheme they will find hard to get out of.

H.264 has become an industry standard for delivering everything from web video to HD content as found on Blu-ray discs. But unlike the other contenders for the HTML5 video standard, Ogg Theora, it isn't open source and it isn't royalty free for certain applications.

There is also Flash, which does use H.264, but is competing directly against HTML5's built in video support. The advantages of Flash is that it will add H.264 support for browsers like Firefox without getting users to pay, but it also means that browsers don't come "out of the box" being able to play online videos, which is what HTML5 tries to achieve.

More:

http://newteevee.com/2010/03/17/microsoft-throws-its-weight-behind-html5-and-h-264/

[dr_ml422]

I lost you here. The Big Boys can afford to pay but still keep their browsers free? Don't you have to buy a Mac/PC in order to use Safari/IE?

Also I guess all those rumors about IE 8 being the last IE is now just that rumors?

For the life of me I thought Google owned Mozilla and Firefox? I missed the boat entirely on this. So Google is just a search engine and only has Gmail?

Well once again. asa Uncle Bill gets in the story's over. That's why there will never be any true competition against MS regarding a OS. Great news. I'm glad MS has finally seen the light and bringing the goods to us the consumers.

[admin]

The big boys can pay the MPEG-LA money for licensing the H.264 decoder to be used in their browsers, but still keep their browsers free for download, because they can afford to absorb the cost (which could be millions per year). Mozilla/Firefox can't afford it, or don't want to pay for it.

Google used to work with Mozilla, they produced a software pack that included Firefox. But ever since Google made their own browser, Chrome, they've sort of gone their separate ways a bit. Google used to be best friends with Apple as well (Google's CEO was on Apple's Board of Directors as well), but Google's inroads into the phone market has made them semi-enemies now. Google is burning all the bridges basically.

[doctorhardware]

I see that MS has a Beta out for IE.

[dr_ml422]

The saying that's there really no such thing as a original idea must be true then. I thought Google and Mozilla were together at some point. Didn't know about the Apple friendship though. Now I understand. I thought you could only download and install IE etc... if you owned a MS OS. I didn't know it was free for other OS.

@ doc So those rumors were bs to begin with about IE 8 being last IE? Or is it simply not going to be integrated into future MS OS?

[doctorhardware]

That is what I got from MS releasing IE9. I am going to wait for a while before I take the plunge to IE9.

[dr_ml422]

That is what I got from MS releasing IE9. I am going to wait for a while before I take the plunge to IE9.

Is it still going to be integrated? Or option to install /uninstall?