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Should I install Adobe Flash on my mac?

Is it a good idea to put Adobe Flash on my Mac? It makes me nervous.

MacBook Pro

Posted on Mar 14, 2012 6:31 AM

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Posted on Mar 14, 2012 6:45 AM

alxdrozd wrote:


Is it a good idea to put Adobe Flash on my Mac? It makes me nervous.

Some features of some webpages won't work without it so it's a tradeoff. If you should decide to install it, be sure you get it directly from Adobe. I get it here: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ . The version changes periodically so I routinely check here: http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ to see if I have the current version, and if not, what the current version is. The current versions also install a control panel in System Preferences. I'd advise checking that periodically too. I've noticed that a number of the settings I keep turning off are turned back on if I check later.


When a new version is released, I'd suggest downloading it but waiting a day or two to install, just to see if others have run into problems with the new version. No point being a beta tester for Adobe...

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Question marked as Best reply

Mar 14, 2012 6:45 AM in response to alxdrozd

alxdrozd wrote:


Is it a good idea to put Adobe Flash on my Mac? It makes me nervous.

Some features of some webpages won't work without it so it's a tradeoff. If you should decide to install it, be sure you get it directly from Adobe. I get it here: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ . The version changes periodically so I routinely check here: http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ to see if I have the current version, and if not, what the current version is. The current versions also install a control panel in System Preferences. I'd advise checking that periodically too. I've noticed that a number of the settings I keep turning off are turned back on if I check later.


When a new version is released, I'd suggest downloading it but waiting a day or two to install, just to see if others have run into problems with the new version. No point being a beta tester for Adobe...

Mar 14, 2012 7:28 AM in response to alxdrozd

Yes you migth want to filter or block Flash via extension or plug-in, yes your Mac can run warmer and take longer to load page. Or not.


No I don't have trouble wtih Windows 7 & 8 (have not used Vista since 7 went beta 3 yrs ago)


Yes there are web sites that don't recognize flash 10+ but Adobe has made a lot of improvements.


And even Safari has bad security holes and vulnerabilities that eventually got patched. Even Chrome and FF10 had their issues.


Nothing gets installed without you granting permission, no matter what OS.

Mar 14, 2012 7:31 AM in response to alxdrozd

alxdrozd wrote:


Does it wreck your Mac and make it run slower, or constantly want to check and install updates on its own? After years of living in Windows Vista ****, there's no way I'm going back to that.

Been there, done that with a Win 7 Virtual Machine. It isn't as intrusive on a Mac though you can set that control panel to check for updates automatically; I set that to off since part of my morning startup routine is to run a bookmark collection which includes the version check I mentioned. I haven't seen the Adobe download site for the Mac version try to do the equivalent of tricking you into installing some extension for Internet Explorer, or a virus checker for Firefox, but there's always tomorrow so it doesn't hurt to read the Mac site carefully each time.


If you are using Firefox, I'd suggest installing at least NoScript and BetterPrivacy (which can delete Flash cookies which are saved separate from the regular cookies you're used to).

Mar 14, 2012 7:53 AM in response to FatMac-MacPro

I suggest visiting ZDNet Security blog at least weekly

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security


The denial-of-service issue affects ColdFusion 9.0.1 and earlier versions for Windows, Mac OS X and UNIX.


March 5:

Adobe Flash: The vulnerabilities, rated “critical,” have been fixed for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris OS users.


- goes against the 'wait to patch' theory somewhat depending on your browsing and other factors. What Adobe does not say - sometimes they have had and been working on a patch for months and I recall reading an advisory about this upcoming patch.


Flashback Mac OS X malware exploiting (old) Java security holes

By Ryan Naraine | February 27, 2012, 8:29am PST

If a Mac OS X user visits a web page, and their Java is not up to date, the malware infection will occur without their intervention.


FlashBlock

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/flashblock/


ClckToFlash is no longer available for Safari

http://rentzsch.github.com/clicktoflash/


HTTPS for FF and Chrome

https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere



Should I install Adobe Flash on my mac?

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