Microsoft Edge Will Demote Flash in 2017
- Paul Thurrott
- Dec 14, 2016
-
6
Taking a page from the Google Chrome playbook, Microsoft Edge will also demote Flash content in 2017, the software giant announced today.
“Adobe Flash has been an integral part of the web for decades, enabling rich content and animations in browsers since before HTML5 was introduced,” Microsoft’s Crispin Cowan explains. “In modern browsers, web standards pioneered by Microsoft, Adobe, Google, Apple, Mozilla, and many others are now enabling sites to exceed those experiences without Flash and with improved performance and security.”
Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
"*" indicates required fields
As the newest browser in the bunch, Edge has always taken a hands-off approach with Flash. The initial version of the browser let you turn off Flash support if you wished, and in the Anniversary Update, Microsoft changed how the browser runs Flash, and disabled it automatically for content, like ads, that wasn’t central to the page you’re viewing.
With the Creators Update in 2017, however, Flash will be demoted even further.
“Sites that support HTML5 will default to a clean HTML5 experience. In these cases, Flash will not even be loaded, improving performance, battery life, and security,” Cowan writes. For sites that still depend on Flash, users will have the opportunity to decide whether they want Flash to load and run, and this preference can be remembered for subsequent visits.”
That said, there will be some exceptions so that users don’t have a bad experience. “The most popular sites which rely on Flash today” will not be blocked initially, for example. But Microsoft says it will monitor usage and gradually minimize the list of exceptions.
Nothing to complain about here. This is great news.