Adobe Flash is Officially Dead After 25 Years With Content Blocked Starting Today

[Santiago]

Anyone remember Shockwave? That was basically the predecessor to Flash.

Macromedia Director was the first piece of software I learned after Microsoft Office when I was in middle school and got to use contemporary computers for the first time in the lab. I learned how to animate and how to do basic programming. I got to develop funny cartoons that were broadcast on the TV across our school. Those were some really fun times. Didn't Shockwave kinda morph into Flash? I remember there being a lot of similarities, but I never fully got into Flash as I thought HTML was better and so I learned that instead and now that's my job, lol.

It's why Flash files had extension .swf — ShockWave Flash.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Oh, wow, H★R lives on, using an HTML-based flash player called Ruffle! homestarrunner.com

View attachment 1711474

Oh, seriously, I was wearing the band shirt that Strong Bad hates (LOVES), and someone came up to me and said that I was so 'obnoxious', and that 'the shirt I was wearing is disgusting, and hateful'. I was a little shocked.

Oh, it's Strong Bad's FAVORITE BAND! it's sloshy.

(Now, how do I say it in the proper way?)

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

It's why Flash files had extension .swf — ShockWave Flash.

I may be wrong, but I think that Shockwave and Flash were actually separate, in the beginning. It was SWF for Shock Wave File? Well, they were separate, but are, or were, joined at some point.

<--Later--->

ShockWaveFlash. So, after Shockwave was on life support, they called it SmallWebFormat, which should make whoever came up with these covers grateful that the only options to rename it weren't x-rated and filled with obscenities.

As I was learning Shockwave years ago, they said that it 'wasn't Flash'. It was 'different'. And, well, it wasn't as different as they said it was, apparently, or became over time.

It's done, it's gone. Shockwave is dead now, for how long?

(Is Java still a thing, or is it a tombstone too?)

Through all of this, the only thing that is consistant is that standards seem to be challenges to other corporations to find something that invalidates tham, and creates more drama, and way less 'standardization'.

Like they say in Pirates of the Caribbean, 'The code is more like, guidelines'...

The quote:

Jack Sparrow: I thought you were supposed to keep to the code.
Mr. Gibbs: We figured they were more actual guidelines.

 

[T-R-S]

Steve Jobs dumped Flash right before he announced the iPad. As usual Apple knows what's up years before things take action.

The big reason was that Flash drained the battery so fast. Adobe never bothered to optimize it as the years went by, then there were security issues with in - people would send out Flash installers and they could hide spyware in Flash. There were just too many check boxes against it.

 

[Beavix]

As a graphic designer, I had a lot of fun using Flash 20+ years ago. Back then the internet was a lot different than today. More diverse, more exciting, more experimental. It was pretty great. RIP Flash.

 

[laptech]

I was always amazed at the people that were STILL using COBOL, and even RPG, and are still trying to get 'the universities best and brightest'. For COBOL? For RPG? For archaic Sanskrit tablets found in a hole in the middle of nowhere? That was one of the biggest bitches I had with the EE/CE program at the Uni that I was at. Let me get this straight, you think by requiring your graduates to be fluent in the ancient incantations of once thriving and now dead language (religion), they are going to be 'employable'? WHERE? WHEN? Who invented time travel so they can exploit their 'education' in runes, reading bones, and ancient tongues?

They eventually dropped RPG, and COBOL was finally given a quick, and somewhat embarrassing funeral from the syllabus... Yikes...

You will find there are lots of companies around the world still using very old technology because the situation the hardware/software is being used in or for requires bespoke software and as a result, it is cheaper to keep the old hardware/software running than pay thounds or millions to have the bespoke software and hardware updated to run on todays latest technology.

I remember reading an article on a tech website a few years back that a big corporation was advertising for COBOL specialists because it was cheaper to hire or even pay to train people to learn COBOL rather than upgrade the system to more modern hardware and software. There is a more famous one where a public transport company uses an old computer to run it's transport display system. There was as the time also another famous one where a commodore amiga ran a schools district heating system (not sure if it still does).There was that one recently that Macrumours reported on about a F1 team using an older computer to control it's cars engine management systems because it uses bespoke software.

Having experience of the electronic manufacturing business, I know there are companies that still use NT4 to run their ATE test equiment. The software is bespoke and due to it's design, all the company needs to do is write a new data file for the new electronic devices that need testing. Many old automated production lines still in use that use DOS to control it and configure it.

When it comes to business, the old mantra is still strong 'If it aint broke, don't fix it'.

 

[ian87w]

I hope Microsoft (and also Apple) would just uninstall and eject any remnants of flash through the regular OS updates. Often times a typical user won't be bothered uninstalling things, especially stuff that require a lot of tinkering to uninstall.

 

[djgamble]

Iiiii waaaant my flaaaash tee-veeeeee!!

 

[Makosuke]

I am not the least bit sad to see Flash go, and I appreciate (though didn't realize it was the plan) that Adobe even put in a "kill switch" that prevents it from running even if still installed.

What most impressed me about Flash was how many security flaws the thing had. It's like Adobe was trying to make the thing suck. I mean, the entire installer was under 20MB, wasn't a vastly complicated platform, and the product hadn't undergone any major functional updates in a decade, so it should have been the very definition of a mature, stable product. And yet it was an absolute, ongoing disaster for decades.

That said, the one thing I am really sad to see die along with Flash is Alpha Bounce. I'd be cheerfully dancing on Flash's grave if it weren't for that game.

It was (technically still is for a few more days until they shut the server down) a really awesome sort of open-world Breakout clone that's been around for well over a decade (also has a DS Ware port), and I've personally been playing the thing since, according to my account, June 2009, and back in its heyday had a dedicated (largely French) player base and all sorts of cool online optimization tools and impressive player-made maps.

It's Flash based, sadly, and unlike a lot of downloadable Flash games it relies on server-side interaction (the millions of levels are shared and can be edited by users, and until a year ago when it was EOL'd there was a pay-for-extra-plays system that was of course server-side). So there's really no way to keep it alive short of a complete rebuild by the company that ran it, which isn't happening.

Given the countless hours my spouse and I have put into the thing, I REALLY wish there had been a way to save it. If somebody had crowdfunded that, I'd have dumped a completely unreasonable amount of money into it.

I was trying to get a few more plays in last night with a Chrome browser I siloed without updates for that use, and discovered that you can get Flash to run still by setting the system clock back.

 

[MacBH928]

We had good times. People are evil. They are hating on Flash but they forgot what amazing things it was able to do back in the day. Flash is like VHS tapes. It served its purpose and now its time to move on.

One question is, did Flash every had a capability that can not be replicated using modern HTML5 and JS?

 

[Maconplasma]

The big reason was that Flash drained the battery so fast. Adobe never bothered to optimize it as the years went by, then there were security issues with in - people would send out Flash installers and they could hide spyware in Flash. There were just too many check boxes against it.

Sorry I'm a bit confused as to why you replied me with the reason for Apple dumping Flash? I never said I didn't know why. I did know why. I was commending Steve Jobs for taking the risk and getting rid of Flash long before the Windows world would even dare.

 

[MacCheetah3]

That said, I haven't seen anything using Java in the browser in a very, very long time. Is that even supported at all anymore? I feel like it was killed off.

Not common but does exist — at least I’ve encountered it in the past couple years using virtualization pods for computer network-related training and testing.

I feel Java is an okay programming language. From a development standpoint, it’s quite cross platform, or at least can be, plus has significant capabilities. Is it ideal for all uses? Of course, not. And, with complex apps, it can become noticeably resource hungry. But again, not a bad language.

As for Flash, it had some great uses. However, in the final years at its peak, many developers were (I think) excessive, having entire webpages as a single Flash object.

 

[MacCheetah3]

We had good times. People are evil. They are hating on Flash but they forgot what amazing things it was able to do back in the day. Flash is like VHS tapes. It served its purpose and now its time to move on.

One question is, did Flash every had a capability that can not be replicated using modern HTML5 and JS?

Good and bad, it was all encompassing. No need to include, code for, and update several libraries.

 

[jpotisch2]

I am not the least bit sad to see Flash go, and I appreciate (though didn't realize it was the plan) that Adobe even put in a "kill switch" that prevents it from running even if still installed.

What most impressed me about Flash was how many security flaws the thing had. It's like Adobe was trying to make the thing suck. I mean, the entire installer was under 20MB, wasn't a vastly complicated platform, and the product hadn't undergone any major functional updates in a decade, so it should have been the very definition of a mature, stable product. And yet it was an absolute, ongoing disaster for decades.

That said, the one thing I am really sad to see die along with Flash is Alpha Bounce. I'd be cheerfully dancing on Flash's grave if it weren't for that game.

It was (technically still is for a few more days until they shut the server down) a really awesome sort of open-world Breakout clone that's been around for well over a decade (also has a DS Ware port), and I've personally been playing the thing since, according to my account, around 2007, and back in its heyday had a dedicated (largely French) player base and all sorts of cool online optimization tools and impressive player-made maps.

It's Flash based, sadly, and unlike a lot of downloadable Flash games it relies on server-side interaction (the millions of levels are shared and can be edited by users, and until a year ago when it was EOL'd there was a pay-for-extra-plays system that was of course server-side). So there's really no way to keep it alive short of a complete rebuild by the company that ran it, which isn't happening.

Given the countless hours my spouse and I have put into the thing, I REALLY wish there had been a way to save it. If somebody had crowdfunded that, I'd have dumped a completely unreasonable amount of money into it.

I was trying to get a few more plays in last night with a Chrome browser I siloed without updates for that use, and discovered that you can get Flash to run still by setting the system clock back.

FYI we still have an internal app that uses Flash (I know, I know) and there are two ways you can continue running Flash past yesterday's kill switch deadline (I know, I know):

1. Adobe licensed Flash technology to Harman Connected Services, a subsidiary of Samsung. You wouldn't do this just to keep playing a Flash game, but for companies with internal apps they can provide officially supported solutions that use their Flash player. They are locked down to only load whitelisted content and there are other restrictions, but if your company somehow didn't read the news for the past few years and is suddenly screwed without Flash, this is an option they intend to support for at least the next couple of years.
2. Of much more interest to your use case, the Adobe Flash Player Administrator's guide has a section on "Enterprise Enablement" that describes how you can add entries to the mms.cfg file stored in your Flash player's folder that allow whitelisting of content. Note that every browser except IE (I know, I know) will remove support for even attempting to run the Flash player soon, and a Windows update scheduled for this summer will uninstall it, but this is a free and fairly simple option that will at least buy you several months with your game!

Not saying you should do the above, but you could.

-joel

 

[Localcelebrity]

As for Flash, it had some great uses. However, in the final years at its peak, many developers were (I think) excessive, having entire webpages as a single Flash object.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. While there were lots of interesting creative experiments in Flash, it was generally cumbersome. Generally, it broke the expectations of how the web was supposed to work with bookmarks and such.

(Though, we've seen that again with dynamic content but in, arguably, a more thoughtful way as web pages have generally become more like whole applications.)