With Microsoft recently announcing it will support the HTML5 video tag in the coming Internet Explorer 9, expect even more sites to abandon Flash for native video.

Originally, the HTML5 video spec told browser developers to include an attribute called “autobuffer” in the video tag. Autobuffer allowed us to tell the browser to start downloading the video as soon ...

Originally, the HTML5 video spec told browser developers to include an attribute called “autobuffer” in the video tag. Autobuffer allowed us to tell the browser to start downloading the video as soon ...

The HTML 5 specification describes a number of important emerging Web features, including the Canvas and Video elements. Some aspects of HTML 5 are already widely implemented in modern browsers.

And the scalable vector graphics set of tags — now often considered part of HTML5 — was the right way to draw lines by putting the information in an endless stream of tags.

The number of videos on the Web that are now compatible with HTML5 has shot up to 63 percent from just 10 percent a year ago, according to video sharing site Mefeedia.