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Google Starts Using HTML5 By Default Instead of Flash For Some Chrome Users (venturebeat.com)

Google announced in a blog post today that it will be rolling out a feature over the next few months that starts disabling Flash and displaying HTML5 content instead on certain websites. Google notes, "This change disables Adobe Flash Player unless there's a user indication that they want Flash content on specific sites, and eventually all websites will require the user's permission to run Flash." VentureBeat reports: Google has deployed the change for half of the people who are using Chrome 56 beta, which rolled out yesterday, Google technical program manager Eric Deily wrote in a blog post. Then, "in the next few days," Deily wrote, the feature will be active for 1 percent of users of Chrome 55 stable. And by February 2016 it will be live for all users in Chrome 56 stable, Deily wrote. The idea is to lessen the dependence on a web component that can cause a drag on CPU and memory usage and shorten battery life as a result. Flash also has a track record of security issues.

20 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. Good by Phydeaux314 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Getting rid of Flash as a default, loaded-as-needed plugin is a good thing. I mean, it's one of the biggest sources of malware these days - it really shouldn't be allowed to run by default, especially when alternatives exist.

    --
    Never underestimate the stupidity inherent in all human beings.
    1. Re:Good by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Getting rid of Flash as a default, loaded-as-needed plugin is a good thing. I mean, it's one of the biggest sources of malware these days - it really shouldn't be allowed to run by default, especially when alternatives exist.

      Yet some stuff on YouTube still doesn't work when I run Chromium (sans PepperFlash).

      Google have your people call your people.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:Good by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      That's the best part, Youtube is on the list of default whitelisted sites (along with Netflix, Hulu, Yahoo, Facebook, and half dozen others making up 90% of the Flash video streaming usage...)

      Basically it will totally inconvenience (aka reduce traffic to) the small guys and reinforce the big ones. I wouldn't be surprised if the whitelist concept generates a class action antitrust lawsuit...

    3. Re: Good by FyRE666 · · Score: 1

      I rate this troll attempt 1/10. Anyone who's used HTML5 video on anything above a potato will know it runs fine, with LESS CPU usage than Flash.

    4. Re: Good by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      HTML5 video runs fine on a browser like Chrome with proper support. It's no different from Flash support, since Chrome maintains and embeds the Flash player themselves, so they can support the HTML5 player with the same codecs and acceleration.

      On Firefox, I can't say. I agree if a browser can't make their HTML5 player usable, they shouldn't disable Flash for now. Chrome doesn't have that problem. Neither does Safari, as long as you are streaming HLS. IE is hit and miss depending on the OS and browser version...

  2. Better idea by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They really want to kill Flash? Bury any search results in the back pages *if* they rely on Flash.

    1. Re:Better idea by kaizendojo · · Score: 2

      Much more effective. There still so many mainstream sites like the Weather Channel that use only flash and are now unusable in chrome. Doing this will put the onus on the site if they want to keep their standings and push quicker adoption. Not doing it just leads people to use an insecure browser that runs flash and circumvents the whole reason that Google pushed Flash out in the first place.

  3. wish they'd hurry up by JackSpratts · · Score: 2

    not sure i can wait until february 2016

    1. Re: wish they'd hurry up by fotang · · Score: 1

      After, or before, February 2016?

    2. Re: wish they'd hurry up by fotang · · Score: 1

      Does negative time not exist?

  4. What a Circus HTML5 is. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's a massive campaign to blame flash for all the Internets security and usability woes without revealing the real reason why every webbie hates flash.

    And that reason is, it's trivial to block and ignore. Because people don't want to run app's on a browser, it's a browser.

    I went to CNET today to read an article, 1/6th of my screen was taken up by, I shit you not, a re-position-able video player that plays ad's. Half the sites I go to now have pop-up's again and the screen dim's or blurs when it's up, or if I decide "I don't want to watch this stupid video I just want to skim the article and get the details" BAMMO, the video player minimizes to the right lower corner and takes up a third of the article text and plays it's crap anyway. Where's the blocker for that? I hit the stop button. Things are still running and loading in the background. I thought Stop meant Stop?

    Java and HTML5 are code-words for long-term projects that mean we're going to develop a way to run fully functional software on the client machine, but do it this time in such a way the client has zero control over it, and then we'll slowly start turning the entire internet and every browsable webpage into an indiscernible mash of fully-personalized psychovisual pornography designed to endorphin-dump the tiny market segment that hasn't become so jaded to advertising that they have had to develop a filter that even their families and friends have difficulty penetrating.

    Has HTML5 stopped cryptolocker from loading through java-enabled banner ad's? A MILLION TIMES WORSE than ANY Flash exploit, ever, is the aberration of catching a filesystem encrypting virus through a banner ad.

    This is a complete circus. We used to just be able to install flashblock. Now I need to run the f-ing browser in a VM to have any guarantee of safety and security, or completely disable java and run a half dozen plug-in's, several of which as a method of working, report what sites I visit to whomever. Webbies and advertisers need to go through a rehabilitation clinic.

    1. Re:What a Circus HTML5 is. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Java isn't half bad at all. Sadly many confuse the term 'Java' with the crappy desktop JRE and browser plugin from Oracle.

    2. Re:What a Circus HTML5 is. by eWarz · · Score: 1

      Yes it is. I've never seen a quality Java web app, desktop app, etc. Even android apps have issues with speed, memory usage, and battery life. I've worked with Java and .NET (among other things) for a long time, and I'm amazed they haven't both disappeared into oblivion. A lot of Java developers will try and defend the architecture by saying exactly what you said. However, I want you to find me a single sub-100-ms web app (one that actually does something far more complex than serve static html) that can service hundreds of millions of users on minimal hardware.

  5. ahem by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1
    From the summary: "And by February 2016 it will be live for all users in Chrome 56 stable, Deily wrote."

    So I guess it's been live for about ten months now?

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  6. Re:Without my consent by Dahamma · · Score: 2

    Not cool Google. Don't bother asking me. I'm sure you know what I really want.

    Did you even read the summary?

    This change disables Adobe Flash Player unless there's a user indication that they want Flash content on specific sites, and eventually all websites will require the user's permission to run Flash.

    The whole point is they are NOW ASKING YOU for permission if you want Flash to run on a site instead of trying to figure out what you want.

  7. Re:Do what we say not what we do... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    Yet you still can only listen to Google Play music WITH THE FLASH PLUGIN!!!!

    No.

  8. Re:Dupe by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    Dupe, dupe, dupe dupe of URL, URL, URL...

    Only if you have the reading comprehension skills of a 2 year old.

  9. Flash is NOT a security issue for Chrome/Chromium by short · · Score: 1
    Chrome/Chromium use Google NaCl (=Native Client) + Pepper that jail Adobe Flash to be harmless no matter how insecure it is otherwise.

    Do the editors know this >.< about the articles they approve?

  10. Re: Without my consent by Dahamma · · Score: 1

    And others might. So give people a choice rather than force one or the other. DUH.

  11. tsk tsk by gzuckier · · Score: 1

    the wording you should use is "differently ables Flash"

    --
    Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.