Adobe Closing Down Flash Player in 2020
Adobe is pulling the plug on Flash by the end of 2020.
On Tuesday, July 25, Adobe Systems said it plans to stop providing support for the Flash player in the near future. The firm's decision to close down Flash is considered big news since the plug-in has always been synonymous with Adobe since its release. After all, it is widely used for playing different kinds of animations, games and videos in web browsers.
While the technology is popular for playing videos and animation, it also faced criticism for its numerous flaws. One of those flaws lies in its code, which made it an easy target for hackers who use it to infect computers with viruses.
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It was also compared to the functionality of its rival HTML5. One of the known advantages of HTML5 is that it can be used for the development of multimedia content available in web pages. This saves users the hassle of installing and updating a separate plug-in.
According to Adobe's vice president of product development, Govind Balakrishnan, the company has chosen to end support for Flash because other coding technologies like the WebGL, HTML5 and WebAssembly have "matured enough and are capable enough to provide viable alternatives to the Flash player."
Ahead of its termination in 2020, Adobe will still continue support for Flash on all major browsers and operating systems. The company promised that they will keep issuing security updates regularly, ensure browser and OS compatibility as well as introduce additional features and other improvements "as needed."
Adobe also stressed that it will "move more aggressively" to end the distribution of Flash in countries where outdated versions of the said plug-in are being distributed.
"Even as we see the usage of flash decline, we want to remain committed to them and flash technology until [companies] can migrate to the new standards," Balakrishnan added.
