6 ms·

this has been clear for a while. Ballmer said as much at a recent financial analysts' meeting: http://decav.com/blogs/andre/archive/2010/10/27/ballmer-microsoft

this has been clear for a while. Ballmer said as much at a recent financial analysts' meeting: http://decav.com/blogs/andre/archive/2010/10/27/ballmer-microsoft-s-strategic-ria-platform-is-html5.aspx http://decav.com/blogs/andre/archive/2010/10/27/ballmer-micr... "Interviewer: "HTML or Silverlight, what is Microsoft's lead strategy for developing rich internet applications? Silverlight, HTML5, or acquiring Adobe?" Ballmer: "If you want to do something that is universal, there is no question, the world is going HTML5... The world is just pushing down that HTML5 path, and so are we... What we've really done [with Silverlight] in very good ways is to repurpose it as an important part of the client platform, so yes, you will embrace HTML5, but it's also clear people want client apps... So we're dedicated to Silverlight, but with a little different concept, and we're embracing HTML5."

rbanffy 16y ago
That's why Windows Phone 7 doesn't support HTML5? Seriously, Ballmer is never clear in interviews.
- windsurfer 16y ago
  HTML5 support on the windows phone would mean Windows phone devs could support other phones, and would unify the market. Fracturing it helps increase the value of niche apps, while unification would only level the playing field and leave the windows phone at a disadvantage.
  - WiseWeasel 16y ago
    It also means that WinPhone7 users won't have access to a rapidly growing library of HTML5 content. That's quite a disadvantage for a nascent mobile platform, especially now that HTML5 = mobile web thanks to widespread support from Android and iDevices, among others.
  - metageek 16y ago
    That's the sort of strategy that works when you're a dominant player. WP7 needs to go the other way, making it possible to write cross-platform apps, so that devs will say, "Ooh, here's a better to make my next app!" instead of, "Eww, do I really want to support yet another platform?".
    - rbanffy 16y ago
      Microsoft acts like it is the dominant player because most of its employees genuinely believe it's a question of time for their inherently superior technology becomes dominant. It's sad in a way.
    - auxbuss 16y ago
      That's precisely what I say elsewhere in this discussion. Lack of HTML5 means we wont support WP7. Period. I'd love to support WP7. More competition. Keep Apple and Google on their toes. No problem with that. But no HTML5? Game over. Decision made. It's madness. Madness I tell you.
- confuzatron 16y ago
  Windows Phone 7 doesnt yet support copy and paste. I would not look at a lack of 'HTML5 support' as strategic.
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    As windsurfer pointed out, lack of HTML5 support is a strategic decision. The lack of copy and paste is... well... "stragedic".
    - confuzatron 16y ago
      IMO, windsurfer didn't 'point out' anything - he/she speculated as to why WP7 didn't emerge from the womb with HTML5 support, and expressed the speculation more as an assertion of fact.
      - rbanffy 16y ago
        Here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1848070 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1848070
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - InclinedPlane 16y ago
    The fact that Windows Phone 7 doesn't support HTML5 may not be intentionally strategic, but it affects Windows Phone 7's strategic future nonetheless.
    - confuzatron 16y ago
      Does it however strategically affect WP7's strategic future? Look, the way I see it, WP7 is barely months (weeks?) old. To expect HTML5 support when 'HTML5' is in still flux is silly. MS are still working on their desktop support for goodness sake. Lack of copy-and-paste demonstrates clearly that MS couldn't get everything in to v1.0. And to impute strategic motives is reaching.
- Someone 16y ago
  I cannot see them giving up client-Side Silverlight that easily; controlling the whole stack is an advantage for them just as it is for Adobe (if Flash is king, Adobe sells tons of developer tools, and possibly licenses on mobile devices) or Oracle (with java). So, I expect their strategy is to have a full Silverlight path where supported, with a fallback to HTML/SVG/Canvas when needed. If so, Windows 7 Phone phones would currently have more need for a good Silverlight implementation than for good/full HTML5 support. If Windows 7 Phone phones manage to gain traction, the business strategy could then well be to decrease effort on the HTML5 fallback path.
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    > I cannot see them giving up client-Side Silverlight that easily; controlling the whole stack is an advantage for them just as it is for Adobe It's only an advantage if the stack is relevant. Silverlight is not.
    - Someone 16y ago
      No, but I think it still is their goal to change that.
  - contextfree 16y ago
    "client-side" doesn't mean "in-browser", desktop and mobile apps are clients too.

rbanffy 16y ago

That's why Windows Phone 7 doesn't support HTML5? Seriously, Ballmer is never clear in interviews.

windsurfer 16y ago
HTML5 support on the windows phone would mean Windows phone devs could support other phones, and would unify the market. Fracturing it helps increase the value of niche apps, while unification would only level the playing field and leave the windows phone at a disadvantage.
- WiseWeasel 16y ago
  It also means that WinPhone7 users won't have access to a rapidly growing library of HTML5 content. That's quite a disadvantage for a nascent mobile platform, especially now that HTML5 = mobile web thanks to widespread support from Android and iDevices, among others.
- metageek 16y ago
  That's the sort of strategy that works when you're a dominant player. WP7 needs to go the other way, making it possible to write cross-platform apps, so that devs will say, "Ooh, here's a better to make my next app!" instead of, "Eww, do I really want to support yet another platform?".
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    Microsoft acts like it is the dominant player because most of its employees genuinely believe it's a question of time for their inherently superior technology becomes dominant. It's sad in a way.
  - auxbuss 16y ago
    That's precisely what I say elsewhere in this discussion. Lack of HTML5 means we wont support WP7. Period. I'd love to support WP7. More competition. Keep Apple and Google on their toes. No problem with that. But no HTML5? Game over. Decision made. It's madness. Madness I tell you.
confuzatron 16y ago
Windows Phone 7 doesnt yet support copy and paste. I would not look at a lack of 'HTML5 support' as strategic.
- rbanffy 16y ago
  As windsurfer pointed out, lack of HTML5 support is a strategic decision. The lack of copy and paste is... well... "stragedic".
  - confuzatron 16y ago
    IMO, windsurfer didn't 'point out' anything - he/she speculated as to why WP7 didn't emerge from the womb with HTML5 support, and expressed the speculation more as an assertion of fact.
    - rbanffy 16y ago
      Here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1848070 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1848070
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- InclinedPlane 16y ago
  The fact that Windows Phone 7 doesn't support HTML5 may not be intentionally strategic, but it affects Windows Phone 7's strategic future nonetheless.
  - confuzatron 16y ago
    Does it however strategically affect WP7's strategic future? Look, the way I see it, WP7 is barely months (weeks?) old. To expect HTML5 support when 'HTML5' is in still flux is silly. MS are still working on their desktop support for goodness sake. Lack of copy-and-paste demonstrates clearly that MS couldn't get everything in to v1.0. And to impute strategic motives is reaching.
Someone 16y ago
I cannot see them giving up client-Side Silverlight that easily; controlling the whole stack is an advantage for them just as it is for Adobe (if Flash is king, Adobe sells tons of developer tools, and possibly licenses on mobile devices) or Oracle (with java). So, I expect their strategy is to have a full Silverlight path where supported, with a fallback to HTML/SVG/Canvas when needed. If so, Windows 7 Phone phones would currently have more need for a good Silverlight implementation than for good/full HTML5 support. If Windows 7 Phone phones manage to gain traction, the business strategy could then well be to decrease effort on the HTML5 fallback path.
- rbanffy 16y ago
  > I cannot see them giving up client-Side Silverlight that easily; controlling the whole stack is an advantage for them just as it is for Adobe It's only an advantage if the stack is relevant. Silverlight is not.
  - Someone 16y ago
    No, but I think it still is their goal to change that.
- contextfree 16y ago
  "client-side" doesn't mean "in-browser", desktop and mobile apps are clients too.