Page 5 - December_Newsletter_2020
P. 5
though it advised users to "help secure your system.")
For a thorough run-down on Microsoft's plans, including options for enterprises and how it will
scrub Flash from Windows, users should check out this page from September, which remains cur-
rent.
Microsoft plans to offer the uninstall-Flash update via Windows Update and Windows Server Up-
date Services (WSUS) as an "optional" download "in early 2021," with a change to
"recommended" a few months later.
That update was seeded to the Windows Update Catalog in late October, and so can be manually
downloaded and deployed immediately by individuals and IT administrators. This list includes the
update for all currently-supported versions of Windows.
During the summer of 2021 (the company wasn't more specific than that), Microsoft will purge the
remaining evidence of Flash support from the original 2015 version of Edge and IE. "All the APIs,
group polices and user interfaces that specifically govern the behavior of Adobe Flash Player will
be removed from Microsoft Edge (legacy) and Internet Explorer 11 via the latest 'Cumulative Up-
date'" of Windows 10," said Microsoft. At the same time, the "Update for Removal of Adobe Flash
Player" will be embedded in the cumulative update (Windows 10) or monthly roll-up (Windows
8.1), meaning Flash will automatically be deleted.
Firefox
Mozilla has taken a straight-forward approach to rubbing out Flash. Firefox 84, which according to
the release calendar will ship next week on Dec. 15, will be the "final version to support
Flash," Mozilla stated here.
Firefox 85, now slated for release Jan. 26, 2021, will "ship without Flash support," Mozilla said in
the same note.
Safari
Safari 14, the 2020 refresh that was bundled with the macOS 11 (aka "Big Sur") upgrade in No-
vember and offered in late September as an update to users running the earlier Catalina and Moja-
ve versions of macOS, lacks any capability to run Flash content.
It's no shock that Apple was the first big browser maker to quash all Flash support. After all, Apple
and Flash have had a contentious relationship: iOS has always been a no-Flash operating system
and macOS stopped bundling the Adobe plug-in more than a decade ago.
Some of you may be aware that the clubs newsletter relied on using Flash from the beginning of
us creating the electronic newsletter but we have moved away from using Flash. A few months
ago I was informed of some people having problems they kept getting messages that Flash needed
to be installed although they already had it installed. The answer was to move to a HTML5 version
which seems to have resolved any issues. I am not aware the anyone is still having problems view-
ing the newsletter but if you are please let me know

