Apple dumps Flash from Mac OS X

From InfoWorld: Apple will stop bundling Adobe's Flash with Mac OS X, the company has confirmed.

The new MacBook Air, which debuted last week, is the first Flash-less system from Apple. Other systems will follow suit as the company clears out inventory of Mac desktops and notebooks that include Flash.

"We're happy to continue to support Flash on the Mac, and the best way for users to always have the most up to date and secure version is to download it directly from Adobe," Apple spokesman Bill Evans said in reply to questions on Friday.

The move also puts an end to Apple supplying Flash security updates to Mac OS X users as part of the operating system's patch process. Instead, users will have to know about, locate, download and install those fixes themselves.

That's not smart, said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Security.

"What Apple is doing is separating themselves from the security community," said Storms, who didn't cotton to Apple's decision. "Users, who are likely running an outdated version, typically don't even know when Adobe issues patches."

"I just don't see the upside of this. Apple's not helping out," Storms said.

View: Article @ Source Site