Adobe Flash Warnings Start Popping Up On Windows 10

We're counting down the days to the end of the year but that won't be the only thing that will end after December 31, 2020. While we probably wish a certain pandemic will magically end at the stroke of midnight, it will be some other lingering malady that will be ceasing at the turn of the year. Adobe will be ceasing support for Flash, something that has been years in the making, and it is now making sure Windows 10 users know about it before that time comes.

Flash has long been a security liability on the Internet and a large majority of the Web has moved away from it in favor of more modern and more standardized technologies. Adobe is definitely playing the security card is pretty much trying to scare users from using Flash. Not that they have much of a choice by January next year anyway.

After December 31, 2020, Adobe will formally stop supporting Flash. In fact, it just pushed out what will historically be remembered as the last Flash update last December 9. Come January 12, 2021, however, the Adobe Flash player and almost all Flash plugins will no longer even play flash content. That said, that doesn't mean the Flash player and plugins will automatically become inactive and safe, which is why Adobe and Microsoft are taking extra steps to not be blamed for compromising computers.

Adobe has started popping up warnings on Windows 10 telling users about the deadlines and advising them to uninstall the Flash Player program. Even if unused, the software could still be exploited to gain remote access to a PC, especially if it no longer gets any security updates. Users are presented with only two options of uninstalling or being reminded about it later.

Microsoft, however, has already planned a more drastic measure that will automatically remove Flash for you. It will be rolling out an optional Windows update next year that does just that. That, however, only affects the Flash that Windows 10 itself installs and users will still have to uninstall other Flash players manually, presuming browser makers don't do it for them either.