Microsoft Changes Default Flash Behavior in Win 8 and RT

In a surprise reversal, Microsoft has changed the default behavior of Flash content on websites viewed using Internet Explorer in Windows 8 or Windows RT. Previously, sites had to be on a whitelist before Flash would work. The new behavior effectively turns the Compatibility View list into an exclusive blacklist of badly behaved sites.

With Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 and Windows RT, Microsoft built Adobe's Flash Player directly into the browser. That's not a big deal. Its archrival Google has done the same with the Chrome browser.

But unlike Google, Microsoft made a controversial design decision in its implementation of the Flash Player plugin, restricting Flash content in the otherwise plugin-free Windows 8 version of IE 10. The original design allowed Flash content to run in the modern/Metro-style browser (and in the desktop browser as well on Windows RT) only if the domain was on Microsoft's Compatibility View List.