Adobe Flash Plug-in

[Guest]

I am using Vista and Chrome. On the Jacquie Lawson e-card site, jacquielawson.com, I can preview some cards and not others.  The ones I cannot, I get this message: "We've detected that the Flash plug-in is either out-of-date, disabled or not installed in your browser. Our e-cards are all created using Flash, and Flash is required in order to view this card on desktop computers."  When I do the Adobe check for Flash, it says I already have the version that comes with Chrome.  I have re-installed Flash and done the plug-in enable steps.  Funny thing is I have another identical PC and it works fine.  This one worked for years, but a month ago it stopped previewing some cards. I would appreciate anyone's thoughts.  I might even send you a card!

[Abzyx]

Hello, I also have a Vista PC, but of course I don't use Chrome because Chrome 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, and the current version 55 do not support Vista. If you want to continue using Vista, then Chrome is the wrong browser. If you want to continue using Chrome, then Vista is the wrong operating system. However I do have a suggestion for you. Open Chrome, type chrome:components into address bar and press Enter. Can you see Adobe Flash Player in the list? If yes, what version does it say you have now? And does it change if you click Check for update?

[Guest]

Thank you for the ideas. I did what you suggested. I see a component called pepper_flash, ver. 23.0.0.164, status - no update. When I click check for update, it says component not updated. Could that be Chrome's Flash? I also compared that page on the PC that works ok. I see the same component with the same info'. Neither PC has Adobe Flash listed on that page. Any further thoughts? Many thanks!

[Abzyx]

Yes, that is Chrome's Flash, and it is definitely outdated. For most other browsers, a Flash Player plugin can be installed separately by the user; but with Chrome, Flash is embedded and all updates are provided by Big Brother Google - at least until they end support for your operating system, as they did eight months ago in your case. A Chrome expert might have another suggestion for you; but my best advice to you is to make Firefox your main browser on Vista, or else get a newer operating system.

[Guest]

Hello, again. Just installed Foxfire and rebooted. Getting the same message at the ecard site: We've detected that the Flash plug-in is either out-of-date, disabled or not installed in your browser. Our e-cards are all created using Flash, and Flash is required in order to view this card on desktop computers. Interesting, huh? My control panel lists that I have Adobe Flash Player 24 PPAPI. Any thoughts at this point? Many thanks!!!

[jeromiec83223024]

Microsoft ended support for Windows Vista in 2012.  It's reasonable for them to drop support for operating systems that are well past their end of life... and there are good reasons to remove those machines from active use.

Personally, I think the characterization that Google is doing something wrong here is misguided.  You're talking about an operating system that lacks modern security defenses, is not maintained from a security perspective and is therefore vulnerable, and it's a platform that's currently 1.1% of the desktop market.

If you reframe this from an argument about personal freedom to a more accurate metaphor of epidemiology, it might make a little more sense.  While using (by Internet standards) an ancient operating system and unpatched browser might put your personal health and financial information at risk, that's a personal problem.  When the machine is compromised and used to broadcast or proxy attacks on other computers, it becomes an issue of overall network health.  Think about that old Vista / XP machine as a plague carrier in the midst of an otherwise healthy population.

So, while we technically support XP and Vista, we're not even allowed to have one of those machines in the building, much less attached to the network (in fact, as soon as you plug one in, alarms go off and the network port is automatically killed).  We're not doing that for fun.  There are very good reasons for it.

From my perspective, Google is doing you a solid by encouraging you to move to a secure operating system.  If you can't afford to upgrade to a commercial operating system, there are current, free versions of Linux desktop operating systems that work really well, but that free price tag comes with a learning curve.  Otherwise, you can buy a very capable Win10 laptop for ~$400 at your local big-box store, or a nice Chromebook for ~$200-250.  Either way, both options are far, far cheaper than what identity theft is likely to cost.

Since Flash is a built-in component of Chrome, we don't have a lot of control over their restrictions.  You can always use another browser, but seriously, it's time to move on.  A modern laptop also uses about 10% of the power that the Vista desktop did, so you'll recoup some of that cost on your power bill, especially if you're keeping machines for 15 years at a time.  For what it's worth, you're not alone.  I have to replace my parents' Vista machine while I'm visiting for the holidays, and that thing is perpetually infected with something. 

[Abzyx]

jeromiec83223024 wrote:

Microsoft ended support for Windows Vista in 2012...You're talking about an operating system that lacks modern security defenses, is not maintained from a security perspective and is therefore vulnerable...Think about that old Vista...as a plague carrier in the midst of an otherwise healthy population...you can buy a very capable Win10 laptop for ~$400...

Would it surprise you to hear that I received security updates for Vista via Windows Update on Tuesday? Assuming that you know the difference between mainstream support and extended support, are you aware that mainstream support for Windows 7 ended nearly two years ago? Do you give every Windows 7 user a long lecture about the need to move on to Windows 10? Of course not: That would offend about half of all Adobe users for no good reason - and Windows 7 is in fact extremely similar to Vista. A majority of the world's computers are running Windows versions older than 8. Speaking of Windows 8: I predict that within a few years its users will receive the same shabby treatment that Vista users have been enduring for a long time, for no better reason than that they are few in number. It is almost like a form of racism.

[jeromiec83223024]

First, it's not like racism.  Not even a little bit.  That comparison diminishes a real and pervasive social problem that millions of people cope with every day for the sole offense of having a particular set of genes, and it also discounts the experience of those people.  I'm not looking to start an ideological debate, but I'd be remiss for letting it fly.  Nobody is getting gunned down just for running Windows Vista.

That said, the point of my original post wasn't to admonish you, but to encourage you to move on to a newer operating system both for your own good, and the good of the larger community.  At the network level, herd immunity matters, and Win10 offers both the best set of memory protections and the longest service life of the available options.  While Vista will continue to receive critical updates for another couple months (extended support ends in April), we're in the final days, and there are lots of holiday technology sales available. 

Win7 is a fine choice (there's a sufficient population on Win7 such that it makes economic sense for most software companies to provide support), although mainstream support there ended in 2015, with extended support ending in 2020. 

While extended support means that you get reactive patches, it doesn't get you the proactive mitigations that are added regularly to the supported operating systems like Win10.  We actually work very closely with the folks at both Google's Project Zero and the Chrome security team, as well as the folks at Microsoft Security Research Center, and Flash Player is frequently one of the first adopters (i.e. Guinea Pigs) of any new OS-level security mitigations.  You can amend Win7 to some degree by installing Microsoft EMET (Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit), but Win10 offers the same protections by default, and with a better general user experience.

Anyway, I'm not trying to do a salespitch for Microsoft -- I genuinely just don't want you to be on the business end of some nasty malware.  It ultimately comes down to your personal risk tolerance, but in terms of motivations, we don't stand to gain anything either way.  Because the newer operating systems and browsers like Chrome bundle Flash Player with the browser, Adobe actually loses opportunities to monetize Flash Player on those platforms -- but I'd happy recommend those options, because I'd rather see you equipped with the best available defenses than have you go through the pain of becoming the target for otherwise avoidable malware.

[jeromiec83223024]

Each major browser requires it's own variant of Flash Player (Flash looks like a single product, but there are really ~50 distinct pieces of software that we ship with each release).  You'll need to install the NPAPI variant of Flash Player that Firefox requires.

To do that, using Firefox, go here:

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

We'll automatically detect the browser and provide you with the right installer.

Thanks!