14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 build 14997 got leaked the past weekend, and in addition to new features such as a blue light filter, there’s also a subtle change that should become available for everyone with the next public build release.
Flash Player content is now blocked by default in Microsoft Edge browser in this new build, as Microsoft is going further with its plan of preferring HTML5 for websites that support it.
Edge 39.14997 is doing just that and now provides users with additional options in case Flash Player content is detected. Microsoft announced this new behavior earlier this month, as it planned to introduce it in the Creators Update coming in the spring, and it turns out that it’s already available for testing by insiders.
“In the coming months, we will actively monitor Flash consumption in Microsoft Edge and will gradually shorten the list of automatic exceptions. At the end of this process, users will remain in control, and will be able to choose Flash for any site they visit,” Microsoft said in mid-December.
Edge exclusive feature
This new Flash blocking behavior is not available in Internet Explorer just yet, as Edge has become Microsoft’s top focus, and everyone included in the Windows Insider program is expected to receive it with the next public build that Redmond will release in early January.
Microsoft is not the only company that’s stepping away from Flash Player, as all the other major browser-developing companies did the same thing, including here Google, Apple, and Mozilla.
Blocking Flash content in Edge browser is part of Microsoft’s plans to improve battery life, performance and security of its app, as it’s a well-known fact that Adobe’s software dramatically impacted all of these in the last few years.
Flash Player has been one of the most vulnerable software solutions on the market, and although Adobe moved fast to fix vulnerabilities in most of the cases, there was a significant number of exploits trying to take advantage of the latest 0-days.