Flash Player and McAffee - WHY O'WHY? Make it STOP

Question

Every time I update FlashPlayer, I ponder this question:

"Why does Adobe keep whoring for McAffee?"

Adobe is booking record profits. Do you really need to do this? Happy for your success. But really? McAfee? (even Intel bailed)

The McAffee product is a tainted mess, and regardless of its potential or claimed merits, I am offended that Adobe keeps hawking it and hoisting it on unsuspecting users.

Plus, uninstalling it when some poor sap accidentally forgets to uncheck the box, is a headache (at least on Windows machines).

Adding insult to injury is the need to opt out by unchecking the box, which is to say, "We are going to install this horrific application unless you intentionally stop us - EVERY TIME."

If Flash is really that insecure, then fix it or sunset it. If it is secure, which is the Adobe claim, then quit jamming this thing down our throats.

Adobe makes great products, and on balance, they are a good company. This, however, is wrong-headed and destructive to customer relationships.

End of Rant.

Feel free to correct my thinking.

^Carl.

jeromiec83223024 · Answer

For better or worse, the bundled offers pay the bills. I've posted extensive explanations which you can find in my activity history, but the bottom line is that while Flash Player is free, Adobe is a for-profit corporation.

While I'd love to live in a post-scarcity Start Trek style meritocracy, that day seems very remote. In the meantime, we don't have the luxury of just spending money without generating income, and maintaining and distributing Flash Player is a tremendously complex and expensive undertaking.

At the end of the day, we pay business experts to research, identify and implement the most effective business strategy, and this is hands-down the approach that yields the best results. It’s also the case that those bundled offers keep me employed, and it would be disingenuous to just blame it on the business people.

The truth is, a sufficient number of people find enough value in the bundled offers that they ultimately spend money with those sponsors, who in turn see value in partnering with us, which in turn keeps us supplied with engineers, servers, bandwidth and coffee. It’s an imperfect solution for an imperfect world.

That said, you actually *do* have a few options at your disposal in terms of avoiding this prompt:

1.) Enable automatic updates.

You do not get prompted for background updates. We actually forego the revenue opportunity to ensure that you're always updated with the latest security patches.

2.) Use Google Chrome or Internet Explorer/Edge on Windows 8 and higher

These browser partners contribute directly to the Flash ecosystem in multiple ways, and distribute Flash Player as built-in components of their browsers. There's nothing separate to download or install, and Flash Player is automatically kept updated via either the Chrome updater or Windows Update, respectively.

3.) Uninstall Flash Player

While probably not the optimal answer, you can always opt-out of participating in the ecosystem.

I've included links to our uninstallers below, for your convenience:

Uninstall Flash Player - Mac:

https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-mac-os.html

Uninstall Flash Player - Windows:

https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.