If you're a Netflix subscriber and you use a Mac or PC for playback, then you may be aware that the service utilizes Microsoft's Silverlight plugin to bring you all that Breaking Bad and House of Cards goodness. But for a variety of reasons, Silverlight isn't the ideal video delivery method, and Netflix has started looking towards a bright, HTML5-based future.
There are two major problems with Silverlight. The first is that not all browsers support the plugin, with the most notable hold-outs being Safari on iOS and Internet Explorer in Metro mode on Windows 8. The second problem is the very fact that Silverlight is a plugin at all. Users have to install it, keep it up to date and due to security and privacy issues, may not actually want it on their machines at all. Microsoft also plans to stop developing the plugin by 2021, making the search for an alternative even more pressing.
Netflix to switch from Microsoft Silverlight to HTML5 video