14 DAY TRIAL // Adobe has just released a new version of Flash Player as part of the company’s monthly security patching cycle bringing security fixes to address the known vulnerabilities.
Even though the official release notes are not yet available, as the company has just updated download links (look at the end of the article to find the new version), Adobe Flash Player 26.0.0.151 is mostly focused on addressing security bugs, as it launches on second Tuesday of the month.
This day is being used by Adobe and other companies, including Microsoft, to release security updates for their software, and Flash Player is being patched not only in the stand-alone version, but also as part of browsers where it comes built-in, like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Internet Explorer.
As a result, Microsoft will ship an updated Flash Player later today via Windows Update for both Internet Explorer and Edge browser in Windows 10.
The demise of Flash Player
While Flash keeps getting updates for the time being, security fixes would only be provided until the end of 2020, when Adobe will completely pull the software.
By that time, all the other companies using Flash Player would have to migrate to alternative solutions, with tech giants like Microsoft and Google already announcing a gradual transition off Flash in the coming years.
More recently, a group of developers has asked Adobe to open-source Flash Player and avoid breaking down the Internet, as a long list of websites is very likely to remain based on Flash despite the 2020 deadline. Of course, there’s a little chance this would happen, but Adobe is yet to offer an official response on this.
In the meantime, all users are strongly recommended to update to the latest version as soon as possible, so you can download Adobe Flash Player 26.0.0.151 right now from Softpedia. Windows users running IE and Edge can wait for Microsoft to push the update later today via Windows Update.