Adobe Flash Player bids adieu; here's why you should uninstall it right away

On January 1, Adobe discontinued support for its popular Flash Player. While Adobe’s Flash Player will be removed from all browsers, the company is urging users to uninstall the software before it blocks all Flash content from January 12.

Microsoft is also removing the Flash Player from most Windows versions. All websites that offer games based on Flash and animations will also remove the software.

“After December 2020, you will no longer receive “Security Update for Adobe Flash Player” from Microsoft that applies to Microsoft Edge Legacy and Internet Explorer 11. Beginning in January 2021, Adobe Flash Player will be disabled by default and all versions older than KB4561600 released in June 2020 will be blocked. Downloadable resources related to Adobe Flash Player that are hosted on Microsoft websites will no longer be available,” Microsoft said in a blog.

Adobe is also asking users to uninstall Flash Player from their browsers, with the company saying; “Uninstalling Flash Player will help to secure your system since Adobe does not intend to issue Flash Player updates or security patches after the end-of-life date.”

So, if you are using Flash Player, you might want to uninstall it right away.

Adobe Flash was first released in 1996 and was instrumental in empowering creators to make and share animations and games that could be downloaded quickly through a dial-up internet connection. Flash also played a big role in aiding websites like YouTube stream high-quality videos.

However, the Flash Player has been plagued with security concerns and has struggled in recent times to keep up with the advancements in internet technology. In 2010, Steve Jobs penned a scathing open letter in which he criticised the software and set out why it would not be allowed to run on Apple products.