The Adobe Flash player has been a frequent topic of my client updates for you over the years.
I have covered…
– What it is:  It is a multimedia content player for Windows and Mac.  It is still the video format of choice for many major news and TV sites.  Flash is required to play live or On Demand video from Comcast on your computer.
– Why it needs to be updated:  Malware can infect out of date versions of Flash Player.
– Flash baked in:  For years Google’s Chrome browser has included the ability to play Flash content without having Adobe Flash Player installed separately.  Though few of you probably use it, Microsoft’s new Edge browser in Windows 10 mimics Chrome in this manner.
– The shift to automatic updates: Flash Player for Mac and Windows will update on your systems automatically.   These updates rarely fail.  However, you need to be careful of….
-Fake Flash Player updates:  Never respond to a prompt on your screen asking you to update Flash Player.  This is likely malware.   Should you use the Safari browser or Firefox and need to install Flash or manually update it, the only website you should be going to https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ . Accept no substitutes! Keep in mind that Chrome and Edge keep Flash updated automatically.

– Moving beyond Flash:  The industry is moving beyond the Flash Player.  Even Adobe admits that they have lost the market.  HTML 5 is the preferred player these days and does not require separate software to be installed on our computers. Netflix now uses HTML5 on the computer.  HTML 5 is the standard playback format for iOS and Android devices.
All of those topics are old news for most of us. Should you need a review, I would be happy to speak to you via e-mail or phone.

What’s new:  As the PC (Mac and Windows) is moving further away from the Flash Player, your browsers will now have an “opt-in” policy for playing Flash content.  That means if you go to a video or game site and you want to use Flash, you will have to deliberately turn it on.  Apple and Google are claiming they know what’s best for you by trying to protect you from rogue Flash content.  Should you come across legitimate Flash content that appears to be blocked, you need to know how to turn on Flash in your browser.

For Chrome:  https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/enabling-flash-player-chrome.html

For Safari:  https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/enabling-flash-player-safari.html#safari

For Firefox:  https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/enabling-flash-player-firefox.html

Some of you may have no need to play Flash at all, so if that is you, there is no need to take action at this time. Save this as a resource and cross the bridge when you come to it.