Microsoft to follow Apple and reject Flash in tablets

Says it will improve battery life, security and reliability.

Microsoft has confirmed its Windows 8 OS will come with two Internet Explorer versions, but the 'Metro-style' touch-specific type will opt for HTML5 over Flash.

Voicing his belief in HTML5, Dean Hachamovitch, head of Microsoft’s IE team, blogged: "For the web to move forward and for consumers to get the most out of touch-first browsing, the Metro style browser in Windows 8 is as HTML5-only as possible, and plugin free."

Hachamovitch continued by saying that leaving the Metro-style IE plugin free "improves battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers."

Of course, these are pretty much the same arguments put forward by former Apple CEO Steve Jobs when he rejected Flash as a rich media platform for iOS devices and said: “Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content.”