14 DAY TRIAL // A statement obtained by Engadget from Apple spokesman Bill Evans reveals that Apple is not trying to dodge Flash by not pre-installing it on new Macs, but rather ensuring that customers have the most secure, up-to-date version, by forcing them to download and install the software themselves.
Reports hit the wires last week saying Apple was killing one technology after another with its new MacBook Air computers, starting with Flash (which the company has long reneged upon) and Java (which is always late to arrive on Macs in its final, most stable, and secure form).
Apple has a good explanation for ditching the ported Java runtime ships with Mac OS X, saying it is "deprecated". Pretty much the same goes for ditching Flash.
According to Apple spokesman Bill Evans, leaving out the plugin starting with the new MacBook Airs has nothing to do with Apple’s stance regarding Adobe’s software.
“We're happy to continue to support Flash on the Mac, and the best way for users to always have the most up to date and secure version is to download it directly from Adobe,” Evans said in a statement, according to the aforementioned gadget site.
Evans reportedly added that this will be the case from now on (in that all Macs will ship without Flash), although there should be a great deal of Macs left in the retail channel that do have the plug-in pre-installed.
The tech-site reporting the news makes an important observation in saying that Apple should at least link to Adobe’s web site via the “missing plug-in” message (in Safari), so that customers can get watching their favorite online videos as soon as possible.
Since we’re on the topic, some of you who haven’t yet gotten around to downloading Flash on your new MacBook Air may want to know where the latest version can be obtained from.
Obviously, Softpedia has got you covered with a link to the latest version.