A Plugin–Free Paradigm

HTML5 provides native support for many features that used to be possible only with plugins or complex hacks (a native drawing API, native video, native sockets, and so on).

Plugins, of course, present many problems:

• Plugins cannot always be installed.
• Plugins can be disabled or blocked (for example, the Apple iPad does not ship with a Flash plugin).
• Plugins are a separate attack vector.
• Plugins are difficult to integrate with the rest of an HTML document (because of plugin boundaries, clipping, and transparency issues).

Although some plugins have high install rates (Adobe Flash, for example), they are often blocked in controlled corporate environments. In addition, some users choose to disable these plugins due to the unwelcome advertising displays that they empower. However, if users disable your plugin, they also disable the very program you’re relying on to display your content.