14 DAY TRIAL // Flash Player was, is, and will continue to be one of the most vulnerable pieces of software out there, and large tech companies are one by one stepping away from this browser plugin that completely changed the online world a decade ago.
Mozilla is the latest big name that joins this list, as the Firefox maker has recently launched a nightly version of its browser that can run Flash content without the need for the Flash plugin.
Called Shumway, the new technology integrated into Firefox Nightly tries to make the browser more secure and faster by loading Flash programs without Flash Player. Right now, the feature only works on Amazon's “Product Tour” section, but future updates could bring support for more websites.
Mozilla's Chris Peterson announced in a newsletter following the launch of the new nightly build that Shumway only works on Windows Vista, 7, and 8.1, as well as on Mac's OS X. Windows XP and Linux users could also get it up and running, but H.264 video decoders are needed.
WWW moving away from Flash
The Flash era is slowly coming to an end as more tech companies decide to look for alternative solutions that would make their products more secure and allow content load faster.
YouTube announced last month that HTML became the default video standard for all users, while Flash remained available as a backup in case something went wrong.
Browsers still work with Flash, but it's no secret that most companies are looking into ways to dump it completely in the near future.
Currently, Google and Microsoft are offering Flash as an integrated plug-in for their browsers, that's installed from the get-go. Adobe, however, is not in charge of patching the Flash Player available in Chrome and Internet Explorer, but Google and Microsoft are, as both companies have decided to take charge of the process and release new updates to users as soon as a new plugin version is available.
Adobe decided last year to marry its patching cycle with Microsoft's, so updates are now being delivered during the second Tuesday of each month. The same day, Internet Explorer users are also getting their browsers patched via Windows Update.
But Google now makes HTML5 the default standard for YouTube, and when browsing with Chrome, the app first checks if there's an HTML5 version available and only then goes to Flash Player as a last resort. Internet Explorer continues to rely on Flash Player, but it's no secret that Microsoft itself is looking into ways to replace it because of the number of security flaws found in the app.
Mozilla's plans for Shumway
With Shumway, Mozilla would basically dump Flash Player once and for all, but for the moment, this project is still in its early development stages. Right now, Firefox Nightly can load Flash content without Flash Player only on Amazon, but Mozilla has already expressed its intention to whitelist more websites in the coming months.
And that's not all. Shumway will give Mozilla the opportunity to move pretty much all Flash content to a plugin-free approach, so the company could soon dump Flash Player for ads as well.
This way, Mozilla would make pages load faster in Firefox and keep the Internet a safer place, as vulnerabilities in Flash Player would no longer be available for exploits.