Flash has dominated websites for many years. According to Adobe statistics, Flash had reached 98% penetration in March 2010.

However HTML5 will possibly become the new leader for multimedia on the internet - particularly with Apple's corporate strategy working its way with the public. Apple does not allow Flash to run on their iPhones, iPads, iPods or Apple TV - and they have no plans on doing so.

Flash or HTML5 for new websites?

Unlike Flash, HTML5 cannot provide the same level of animation and interactivity.

To date (March 2012) we have not yet seen a browser that was 100% compatible with HTML5. Even when browsers eventually become fully compatible, it will take years for the general public to update their browsers (we still have people using IE6.0! ).

Development for new features on mobile devices ceased on November 2011. But Flash will still be supported, downloaded and run on all devices for a long time yet.

So in a nutshell, we are not quite ready to fully swing over to HTML5. At this moment in time we are using HTML5 for simple things like slideshows. Flash still has a place on certain websites for more complex tools and players, but we have to be mindful that the technology will likely depreciate.

You can test your browser's HTLM5's compliance here... http://html5test.com/

To see what browsers people are using at the moment, visit our Internet Usage Statisitics FAQ.

Apple's attack on Flash (and Adobe)

Apple has blocked the installation of Flash on iPads and iPhones in a move to abolish Flash's market share. This is probably because Flash has evolved from being a mere animation player into a multimedia platform capable of running applications of its own.

If Flash was installed on iPhones and iPads, it could open a new door for application developers to get their software onto the iPhone by just coding them in Flash and put them on a web page. In so doing, Flash would divert business from the App Store, as well as enable publishers to distribute music, videos and movies that could compete with the iTunes Store.

Apple's explanation for their censorship is based on their claim that Flash performance is not adequate. However this doesn't seem to be an issue with Android devices and Windows netbooks.

Issues with HTML5 Audio

Not all browsers support mp3...

FORMAT
IE
Firefox
Opera
Chrome
Safari
OGG
No
3.5+
10.5+
3.0+
No
MP3
9.0+
No
No
3.0+
3.0+
WAV
No
3.5+
10.5+
No
3.0+

 

To cater for this, we can add different sources...

<audio controls="controls">
  <source src="/location-of-file.ogg" type="audio/ogg" />
  <source src="/location-of-file.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" />
  <!-- fallback content -->
  Your browser does not support the audio player.
  <a href="/location-of-file.mp3">Download the mp3</a>
  or use the latest Firefox, Safari or Chrome browsers.
</audio>

Issues with HTML5 Video

Not all browsers support all the formats...

 
IE
Firefox
Opera
Chrome
Safari
OGG
No
3.5+
10.5+
5.0+
No
MP4
9.0+
No
No
5.0+
3.0+
WebM
No
No
10.6+
6.0+
No

 

More info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_HTML5_and_Flash

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5