Do I really need Flash Player?

[alexham36]

Hi Guys,

I often get notices that "Flash Player is needed to show the website properly", but I have not got it, because I read on this forum that it attracts all sorts of scum; viruses etc.
Is that still correct and what is the current advice, please? Is there another programme that is safer to install and does the same job?

By the way, even on this forum I get "blank space" above Tinypic Image Uploader because Firefox needs some plugin, but it does not tell me which. That is in Win10 upgrade from Win7. Interestingly, no plugin is needed when I am in clean installation of Win10 from MajorGeeks!

Many thanks,

Alex

[mikkh]

Java is more of a problem than Flash, Flash is regularly updated and the risk of using it is minimal. In fact the threat is virtually non existent unless you're ultra paranoid.

Do you need it? If you want to play browser based games, watch videos on Youtube, iPlayer etc, then yes you need it.

HTML 5 is supposed to do away with the need for external add ons like Java, Flash, Silverlight et al, but it's a long way from becoming standard for web site builders, so for the moment you're stuck with Flash and the rest. Google Chrome and it's variants like Slimjet have Flash built in, so they're the ones to use if you want the full internet experience. I don't rate Firefox any more and avoid using it myself, especially in Linux because of the lack of Adobe support since V 11.2. You're virtually forced to use Chrome in Linux if you want the latest flash and I have no problems with using it in Windows too

[alexham36]

Thanks Mikkh. I uninstalled chrome when I was plastered with pop-up that I could not stop, but I will try it again.
Alex