Google plug-in allows IE9 users to play WebM video
17 Mar 2011
In its bid to bring its web video technology to a browser on which it is not supported, Google has released an IE9 plug-in that will allow users to play WebM video.
According to analysts, the industry debate over the best way to build video into the web would not end with the move but it will mean that allies behind Google's preferred mechanism would now be able to extend their reach beyond Google's Chrome, Opera Software's Opera, and Mozilla's Firefox.
"They said elephants couldn't ride flying dolphins. They said that one of the world's most popular browsers couldn't play WebM video in HTML5. They were wrong," Google said on the download page for the plug-in, which is at the technology preview stage at present.
Microsoft on its part has let it be known that it is not opposed to including WebM support, in fact Microsoft engineers cooperated with Google while making the plug-in but intellectual propoerty concerns would come in the way. This would come as a big diappointment for Google which is working to lower barriers to the use of digital video on the web by offering WebM royalty-free.
Meanwhile, though the IE9 has been much talked about largely due to its blazing performance thanks to the browser's hardware accelerated graphics and its overall immersive experience, an aspect of the browser which has not received enough mention is the browser's improved security. According to experts the following features of the IE9 make it safer and more secure:
1. Counters Tracking: For users who are privacy conscious regarding their online browsing activities, Microsoft's hybrid approach to the "do not track" dilemma would surely rank as the best. Microsoft combines Tracking Protection Lists in IE9 which basically black list specific sites to block them gathering data with the more proactive approach of alerting sites to users' privacy wishes with the use of information in the HTTP header of users' web traffic. With the two approaches unwanted tracking of users' browsing session is minimised.
