I Am So Confused - And With No Answers.......

[rjceasar]

There is a lot of buzz on the Internet about Microsoft and Adobe severing ties, and that Adobe Flash Player will not work after December, 2020.  I don't know what is true, what is not true, and what will, or is, happening.  But, if Adobe is EOL'ing Flash Player (FP), what do we do?  The two browsers I use, Firefox and Chrome, both use FP to watch various videos, etc., including off of YouTube.  So if Adobe is ending FP, what options do people have?  How are we all supposed to watch videos and movies?  I have attempted to chat with two agents from Adobe itself, and both were totally un-helpful.  They kept sending me a link that announced and explained the EOL, but this article did not address what we should do now?  It was almost as if these agents were instructed 'not to say anything'.  Please help.....  Thank you.

[jeromiec83223024 · Accepted solution]

Adobe doesn't provide technical support for free products.  If you're paying for something (Creative Cloud, etc), the phone support people are available and well-equipped to help you.  For the products we give away for free, we provide these user-to-user forums as a courtesy.

I've yet to hear it characterized as "Adobe and Microsoft severing ties".  Microsoft remains an important strategic partner. 

You can read more about Flash Player End-Of-Life and the relevant background from the original 2017 announcement, here: 

https://theblog.adobe.com/adobe-flash-update/d

There's a consumer FAQ, here: 

https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html

YouTube hasn't used Flash video for several years.  The introduction of HTML5 added support for web video, and most video you encounter at this point doesn't use Flash.

The reason that we gave content providers three years advanced notice (this is super rare), was so that they had ample time to transition to those newer equivalent technologies.

[rjceasar]

Hmmmmmm......  Just a week ago, I tried to watch a video on YouTube and got an error message stating that I have to update my Flash Player to watch the video.  Something is not right here.  But my answer still needs to be answered.  "What do we do, for those of us who use Flash Player, when Adobe EOL's it?  Are the browsers all going to make it possible to watch movies and videos?  We are all in the dark out here - really.  And, oh by way, just to clarify, I didn't know or find out this was all happening until 6 days ago - so the three year headstart apparently didn't include the consumers/users.  Thanks for your response.  I'm just simply trying to figure out what I'm going to do before "dooms day" arrives.

[JonathanArias]

"What do we do, for those of us who use Flash Player, when Adobe EOL's it?

You can convert your flash videos using adobe media converter or miro video converter (this one is easier to use).

Are the browsers all going to make it possible to watch movies and videos?

YES! they have for years. its called .mp4. that is the format you will use, you can use a converter.

If you would like to stay in the know as to what adobe is doing you can sign up for newsletters, go to the website or just find a technology site you like to read. Nobody is going to knock on your door to tell you the latest changes in technology. If you in the dark that is your choice. 

Your questions are just out of lack of you staying up-to-date. If this is your line of work its part of your job to know what is going on. 

[_maria_]

Just a week ago, I tried to watch a video on YouTube and got an error message stating that I have to update my Flash Player to watch the video.

YouTube moved away from Flash Player many years ago.  The only way I'm aware of that YouTube uses Flash Player is when folks use an URL or add-on to force YouTube to use Flash Player

[Test Screen Name]

It is really, really simple. If it still needs Flash it won't work. That's all there is to it. 

As a consumer there is NOTHING you can do except find a different site. Three years wouldn't have helped you, but it was for the site people to change. Those who haven't changed yet are probably not going to.

[Test Screen Name]

Why do you say Flash Player is used for Youtube? Really it isn't, though it used to be. Every site that uses Flash Player will give you a warning and ask you to activate Flash. No warning, no Flash. And any sites with the warning will be dead at new year, and that's it. There's nothing you can do.