In another sign that Flash is pretty much on its way out, Apple engineer Ricky Mondello announced that Safari 10, which will arrive in the upcoming macOS Sierra operating system, will arrive with legacy plug-ins like Flash turned off by default.
The Mac maker is planning similar measures with other plug-ins like Java, Silverlight and QuickTime. This move will force websites with both plug-in and HTML5-based media implementations to use their HTML5.
Maybe it wasn’t meant to be between Netflix and Silverlight.
According to the cool cats at The Mac Observer, Netflix is finally moving away from Microsoft’s Silverlight for video streaming on the Mac, at least for OS X Yosemite users. The company said it is instead relying on a feature called Media Source Extensions which will give subscribers 1080p quality video without taxing your Mac’s CPU or battery.
Currently, Netflix streaming on the Mac requires Silverlight, which is a multimedia playback and streaming extension from Microsoft. Much like Adobe’s Flash, Silverlight is proprietary and requires users to install extra software on their Mac. In OS X Yosemite, however, no extra software is needed because all the pieces are already in place to support HTML5 video.
Late Friday, Mozilla.org released version 10.0.2 of its Firefox web browser. The new version stands as a 31.4 megabyte download and adds the following fixes and changes:
– Fixed: Java applets sometimes caused text input to become unresponsive (bug 718939).
– NEW: Most add-ons are now compatible with new versions of Firefox by default.
– NEW: The forward button is now hidden until you navigate back.
– NEW: Anti-Aliasing for WebGL is now implemented (see bug 615976)
– NEW: CSS3 3D-Transforms are now supported (see bug 505115)
– HTML5: New element for bi-directional text isolation, along with supporting CSS properties (see bugs 613149 and 662288)
– HTML5: Full Screen APIs allow you to build a web application that runs full screen (see the feature page).
– DEVELOPER: We’ve added IndexedDB APIs to more closely match the specification.
– DEVELOPER: Inspect tool with content highlighting, includes new CSS Style Inspector.
– FIXED: Mac OS X only – after installing the latest Java release from Apple, Firefox may crash when closing a tab with a Java applet installed (700835).
– FIXED: Some users may experience a crash when moving bookmarks (681795).
– FIXED: Silverlight video may not play on some Macintosh hardware (715396).
Firefox 10.0.2 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.
If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.
Additional content is never a bad thing.
Per Macworld, Time Warner Cable’s streaming cable services are no longer exclusive to iOS devices. Now, Mac and PC users can now watch live TV from the cable provider through their Web browsers via the companys TWC TV Web app, available now in beta, works in Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari. Users will also need to install Microsoft’s Silverlight plug-in, version 4 or higher.
As with Time Warner’s iPad and iPhone app, restrictions apply: Subscribers can only watch live video at home, where their cable TV is set up. And although up to 200 channels are available depending on the user’s subscription package, Viacom content such as Comedy Central and MTV are absent. (Viacom forced Time Warner to stop streaming its content last year, and the companies have yet to reach an agreement to make the content available.)
In addition to live TV streaming, Time Warner’s Web app includes a guide with up to seven days of data and filter options for favorites, HD programming, and streaming channels. Users can also set their DVRs with the app, or change channels on a television set-top box. Search, parental controls, and closed captioning options are also available through the app. The DVR and channel guide features will work from anywhere, not just in the home.
If you’re interested, give it a go and let us know what you make of it in the comments.
On Tuesday, Mozilla.org released version 10.0.1 of its Firefox web browser. The new version stands as a 31.8 megabyte download and adds the following fixes and changes:
– FIXED: Java applets sometimes caused text input to become unresponsive (bug 718939).
– NEW: Most add-ons are now compatible with new versions of Firefox by default.
– NEW: The forward button is now hidden until you navigate back.
– NEW: Anti-Aliasing for WebGL is now implemented (see bug 615976).
– NEW: CSS3 3D-Transforms are now supported (see bug 505115).
HTML5: New element for bi-directional text isolation, along with supporting CSS properties (see bugs 613149 and 662288).
– HTML5: Full Screen APIs allow you to build a web application that runs full screen (see the feature page).
– DEVELOPER: We’ve added IndexedDB APIs to more closely match the specification.
– DEVELOPER: Inspect tool with content highlighting, includes new CSS Style Inspector.
– FIXED: Mac OS X only – after installing the latest Java release from Apple, Firefox may crash when closing a tab with a Java applet installed (700835).
– FIXED: Some users may experience a crash when moving bookmarks (681795)
– FIXED: Silverlight video may not play on some Macintosh hardware (715396).
Known Issues:
– UNRESOLVED: Two-digit browser version numbers may cause a small number of website incompatibilities (see 690287).
– UNRESOLVED: If you try to start Firefox using a locked profile, it will crash (see 573369).
– UNRESOLVED: For some users, scrolling in the main GMail window will be slower than usual (see 579260).
– UNRESOLVED: Some synaptic touch pads are unable to vertical scroll (see 622410).
– UNRESOLVED: Firefox notifications may not work properly with Growl 1.3 or later (see 691662) (Unresolved on v10 Resolved in v11).
– UNRESOLVED: Under certain conditions, scrolling and text input may be jerky (see 711900).
Firefox 10.0.1 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 or later to install and run.