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So many of you have heard that Flash will be End-Of-Lifed in 2020. What does that mean? Like Windows, it will no longer receive updates at all, so it will eventually turn into more of a security and vulnerability risk than it already is. Most people don't know, but Flash, like Java, is not very secure. It's been used to compromise systems many different times and that has never changed. It's gotten better, but it wasn't fast enough to keep up. On top of that, it's very resource heavy, so it can make browsing experiences very sluggish. Not as bad at horribly coded Javascript, but still pretty bad. So, because Flash is being phased out, what does this mean for everyone else? This will mainly affect content creators that use Flash for websites or for making games. YouTube and many other video streaming sites already use HTML5 for their content and it's much better because of it. It's faster and lighter. But what about your Flash games?
Let me be straight here. Flash, in my opinion, has almost always been a piece of garbage. A marvel of internet technology, but badly executed. It could have been done better in many ways, but I won't get into that. Currently, there is still some content backed by Flash technology. Many of it has already been changed over to HTML5, but a lot of older coders and content creators didn't want to switch. It's a sad fact of technology that many of us can't accept change. I'm no different when it comes to Windows. Still, there is something interesting about the date given. They will be ending support for Flash in 2020. Why then and not now? They are giving people 3 years to switch over to HTML5 and it's related technologies. If it was an abrupt switch, they'd be doing the same thing Photobucket did when they changed to that $400 USD premium price for linking images. It would be a monumental disaster and Adobe, as a company, would be greatly affected.
This means that game and content developers have to make the switch, or else their Flash content will no longer work properly unless they stop further developing their site for new browsers and use outdated browsers that support the old plugin, but then that brings in even more security risks like malware, adware, ransomware, buggy operation on newer and updated systems, etc. I will say this now that if any developer does not update their games or content to HTML5/Web standards before the EOL time period, then they are not worth investing your time in to. It won't be worth the much higher risk to your computer being compromised or your information stolen.
I know, I'm spreading the doom and gloom pretty thick, but here's why. Vulnerable and risky plugins become banned/blocked/disabled by the major browsers by default to keep people's computers safe from threats. This is a good thing even if it can be annoying for functionality. That being said, while the technology won't be broken right out of the box, given a couple of days to a couple of weeks, all Flash content on all major browsers that support it will be completely broken after that due to how that works. Again, in my own personal opinion, I think that's perfectly okay. I'd rather we switch to faster, more reliable and more open web technologies than having an older, outdated and vulnerable standard that gives up no benefit over the current standards of HTML5/Web.
So, what should you do? Nothing if you don't use Flash for anything. If you are a content creator, better start brushing up on current web standards to convert your works over to it or if you are someone that views certain Flash content or plays games using it, talk to the creators/developers and encourage them to make the switch before the EOL time frame. If they are paying attention, they probably are already working on it and if they are even better than that, they probably already did it years ago.
In conclusion, I'm happy this is being phased out for better, more secure technology web standards. It's been a long time coming and now we can look forwards to better performance on the web in areas where it still exists and maybe Adobe will even lend their insight to make the technology better instead of hindering it.
Let me be straight here. Flash, in my opinion, has almost always been a piece of garbage. A marvel of internet technology, but badly executed. It could have been done better in many ways, but I won't get into that. Currently, there is still some content backed by Flash technology. Many of it has already been changed over to HTML5, but a lot of older coders and content creators didn't want to switch. It's a sad fact of technology that many of us can't accept change. I'm no different when it comes to Windows. Still, there is something interesting about the date given. They will be ending support for Flash in 2020. Why then and not now? They are giving people 3 years to switch over to HTML5 and it's related technologies. If it was an abrupt switch, they'd be doing the same thing Photobucket did when they changed to that $400 USD premium price for linking images. It would be a monumental disaster and Adobe, as a company, would be greatly affected.
This means that game and content developers have to make the switch, or else their Flash content will no longer work properly unless they stop further developing their site for new browsers and use outdated browsers that support the old plugin, but then that brings in even more security risks like malware, adware, ransomware, buggy operation on newer and updated systems, etc. I will say this now that if any developer does not update their games or content to HTML5/Web standards before the EOL time period, then they are not worth investing your time in to. It won't be worth the much higher risk to your computer being compromised or your information stolen.
I know, I'm spreading the doom and gloom pretty thick, but here's why. Vulnerable and risky plugins become banned/blocked/disabled by the major browsers by default to keep people's computers safe from threats. This is a good thing even if it can be annoying for functionality. That being said, while the technology won't be broken right out of the box, given a couple of days to a couple of weeks, all Flash content on all major browsers that support it will be completely broken after that due to how that works. Again, in my own personal opinion, I think that's perfectly okay. I'd rather we switch to faster, more reliable and more open web technologies than having an older, outdated and vulnerable standard that gives up no benefit over the current standards of HTML5/Web.
So, what should you do? Nothing if you don't use Flash for anything. If you are a content creator, better start brushing up on current web standards to convert your works over to it or if you are someone that views certain Flash content or plays games using it, talk to the creators/developers and encourage them to make the switch before the EOL time frame. If they are paying attention, they probably are already working on it and if they are even better than that, they probably already did it years ago.
In conclusion, I'm happy this is being phased out for better, more secure technology web standards. It's been a long time coming and now we can look forwards to better performance on the web in areas where it still exists and maybe Adobe will even lend their insight to make the technology better instead of hindering it.
