We've got some bad news for the Adobe Corporation; the days of Flash are numbered. Apple's just announced that Snow Leopard OS X 10.6 will launch with integrated Youtube support built in.

The picture above is an artist's representation of what Leopard's integral Youtube will look like. This is good thing for Apple nerds the world over. Apples ability to continue to expand their brand (and profit margin) in this wobbly economy could mean that 2009 is turning into the Year of the Apple.

The most interesting part of this news is the fact that the agreement between Google (who owns Youtube) and Apple states that Google must begin converting the entirety of Youtube's archive over from Flash to H.264. This is a harsh blow to Adobe, which has seen their once-ubiquitous Flash format become increasingly marginalized with the success of Itunes, Realplayer, and Quicktime.

The antipathy between Apple and Adobe is far from an industry secret. Despite complaints of the Iphone's inability to play Flash videos, Apple has steadfastly refused to develop any sort of Flash support for their smart phones. With this latest release it becomes very clear why.