Lottery Post Journal

LP Flash content approved by Microsoft for Windows 8

In Windows 8, you have two choices for your web browser:  regular desktop mode (the same as you use in Windows 7, Windows XP, etc.) or full-screen "Modern UI" mode.  The full-screen mode is what most computers will use when you buy a new computer with Windows 8 installed.

Full-screen mode is actually much safer to use, because Microsoft purposely disables the ability to add browser plug-ins to it.  (Browser plug-ins, like Flash or Java, are the biggest cause of viruses and other malware on PCs.)  If you want to use plug-ins like Flash to your heart's content, then you need to use the desktop browser.

When Microsoft was developing Windows 8, there was a bit of concern among Web site owners, because many sites rely on Flash to display all or some of their content, and if the Web browser did not support Flash (because plug-ins are no longer allowed), then many sites would not work.

So Microsoft made a compromise:  They added Flash as a built-in component of the full-screen IE Web browser, but it would only work for certain pre-screened Web sites that Microsoft has deemed "safe".

I am happy to announce that Microsoft has included Lottery Post on that list, so all the Flash content that is on the site is available in both the regular desktop browser, as well as the full-screen "Modern UI" browser.

An example of Flash content on Lottery Post is the clickable map that appears on the main Lottery Results page.  If you do not have Flash, a list of links will appear, but if you have Flash, an animated map appears.

Another example is the graphs on the site, such as the graph showing the past year of Powerball jackpots on the right side of the Powerball Jackpots page.  If you don't have Flash available, then you don't see the graph at all.

Inclusion on Microsoft's Flash list is especially important for tablets, since most Windows 8 or Windows RT tablet users will rarely use a desktop browser.  It's also a neat feature for Flash to be included on tablets running Windows because, by comparison, the iPad does not have Flash at all, so Flash content is never visible on an iPad.

I have tested Lottery Post's Flash content on both regular Windows 8 as well as on a Windows RT tablet (Microsoft's Surface tablet), and it works perfectly in both.  A nice thing to know if you are contemplating an upgrade to Windows 8.  (Something I definitely recommend!)