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Flash Will Soon Be 'Click-To-Run' in Microsoft Edge (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by msmash on from the final-nail dept.

Microsoft is following in the footsteps of other browser makers such as Apple, Google, and Mozilla, and says that upcoming Edge browser versions will favor HTML5 over Flash by default. From a report on BleepingComputer: "Sites that support HTML5 will default to a clean HTML5 experience," Microsoft said today. "In these cases, Flash will not even be loaded, improving performance, battery life, and security." On sites where Flash is needed, users will be prompted using a popup like the one seen below. Edge will ask users only once, and the browser will remember the user's choice for subsequent visits. Microsoft has already pushed these changes to Edge users on Windows Insiders builds. Regular Windows users will receive this update in the coming weeks.

9 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. HTML5 is nice and all by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Insightful

    but on older devices, Flash media playback is faster. So much so that I can still watch Youtube videos fullscreen on my older Atom-powered netbook with Flash, when the HTML5 player is choppy and horrible in Firefox. If only they made it a tad faster just for fullscreen video playback, I'd uninstall Flash in a jiffy. But it's not gonna happen. Still, while I can, I'm holding onto Flash just for that, because my netbook ain't fast but it works fine.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:HTML5 is nice and all by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'd rather suffer a million Firefoxes than anything coming from Google. Besides, I'm using Palemoon, which is a less sucky version of Firefox.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:HTML5 is nice and all by narcc · · Score: 2

      You don't want to run Chrome on an older computer. It's been unusable on low-end machines for years now.

      FireFox, or one of those weird forks, is your best bet on older hardware.

      --
      Required reading for internet skeptics
  2. Noticed the other day by The-Ixian · · Score: 2

    I am running Windows 10 on my gaming box.

    I launched Firefox (my main web browser still) as normal and I got a little tooltip thing stating that Edge is some % safer than Firefox against "social engineering attacks" WTF does that mean?

    I launch Chrome (used for Netflix and other streaming) and get the same message with a different (lower) % safer tooltip.

    Dually noted MS... thanks /rolleyes

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  3. MS is doing it wrong by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The prompt asks "Do you want to run Flash for this site..." [paraphrased]

    Ideally it should show a prompt or marker at the spot(s) on the page where the Flash markup is. Otherwise, it's hard to know what you are confirming, and you are confirming every Flash reference on the page once you confirm.

    You may enable it to view a video, for example, but could also be opening up Flash spam on the side. Spammers will master this trick of baiting. Page-level confirmation is too course a confirmation granularity.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  4. Re: Blocking ads by houstonbofh · · Score: 2

    I like Pi-Hole. https://pi-hole.net/ Even blocks adds in my phone when on wireless.

  5. Microsoft should take over Xerox by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 2

    After all, copying is in their genes.

  6. Welcome by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hey Microsoft, 2005 just called and congratulated you for all the innovation and stuff.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  7. Re: Blocking ads by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2

    If ONLY there was an expert in host blocking that we could count on to give us their expert opinion...

    Legend has it that if you say his name three times he'll appear...

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...