Windows XP will include Flash player

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By Matt Berger

(IDG) -- Digital graphics software maker Macromedia will provide its ubiquitous Flash player for bundling with Microsoft Windows XP, avoiding a clash other technology makers have faced as they hustle to get their technology supported in the highly anticipated operating system.

The Flash player is a free plug-in that allows an Internet browser, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, to view animated cartoons or dynamic Web sites created with Macromedia's Flash technology. The player has been shipping with Windows operating systems and Internet Explorer for the past four years and is supported by roughly 97 percent of Web users, a Macromedia spokesperson says.

The announcements mean customers who buy Windows XP in a package or pre-installed on a PC won't have to download a Flash player in order to view Flash content.

"Macromedia has an enormous user base, and it's got a huge footprint in the marketplace," says Dirk Coburn, director of Java and XML research at market researcher IDC. "There are a lot of reasons why Microsoft would be motivated to include it with Windows XP."

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Easier Flash Access

Macromedia designed Flash as a tool for Web developers to create vector graphics and animation. The technology has become popular because Flash files are much smaller than bit-map images and can be delivered across the Web quickly. They can also be resized without losing image quality.

The Flash player, which Microsoft is including with the final build of Windows XP, is what end-users need to view content created in Flash. The Flash player is available on PCs and a variety of other computing devices such as set-top boxes and handhelds. The player that comes with Windows XP is Macromedia's version 5.0.

Although the announcement continues a standing relationship between Macromedia and Microsoft, it bucks a trend that has surfaced as Microsoft's new operating system nears its final release to customers. A number of third-party application developers are haggling with Microsoft and PC makers to get access to Windows XP computers, some without any luck.

Every third-party application or product that gets shipped with Windows XP results from a business deal with Microsoft, says Charmaine Gravning, a product manager with Microsoft's Windows group. Although PC makers have received the final code for the software to install on manufacturer PCs, Microsoft says it will announce more partners as it nears the official October 25 release.

"A lot more will be defined as we get closer to launch," Gravning says.

Playing Favorites

Meanwhile, Microsoft said in July that it will not ship a Java Virtual Machine with Windows XP or IE 6. Instead, users must download and install the software to run Java applications. Microsoft dropped its Java support one year after settling a lawsuit with Java creator Sun Microsystems. The deal limits Microsoft to using a four-year-old version of the JVM with its software. Most PC makers say they will bundle their own Java support on their PCs, and users can download the file on their own.

Microsoft also says IE 6.0 will not support Netscape-style plug-ins--additional software that lets users play digital music, video, and other multimedia features on some Web sites. Citing security concerns, Microsoft says its own ActiveX will instead handle those tasks.

Dumping Netscape-style plug-ins will not affect many customers, analysts say. So far, only Apple's OuickTime player plug-in is found to not run in IE 6.0. Microsoft and Apple have since tweaked the QuickTime Player to support ActiveX controls for IE 6.

Other plug-ins, such as Flash and Adobe's Acrobat PDF reader, are supported in IE 6.0. Sun is creating a plug-in version of JVM with support for ActiveX controls for IE 6.0.

"From Microsoft's perspective, they quite rightly don't want to put hiccups in the way of Flash" because it is so widely used, says Chris Le Tocq, an analyst with Guernsey Research.