Image: ZDNet
Microsoft this week launched KB4577586, a Windows update that permanently removes Adobe Flash Player software from Windows devices.
The update was formally announced at the end of October last year when Microsoft and other browser manufacturers prepared for the upcoming Flash end, which is scheduled for the end of 2020.
According to a support document at the time, the update had to be initial optional.
System administrators who wanted to remove Flash before the EOL date could access the Microsoft Update Catalog, download the KB4577586 packages, and remove Flash to avoid security-related issues.
But this week, several Windows 10 users reported that Microsoft is now forcibly installing KB4577586 on their devices and removing Flash support from the operating system.
While users may think this will cause problems for some businesses, this is not the case. Last year, Adobe introduced a time bomb in the Flash Player code that prevents the Flash Player app from playing content after January 12th.
Even if Flash Player was installed on a Windows device, the OS would not be able to play content due to this time bomb – a known issue that caused problems in countries like China and South Africa last month.
It seems that Microsoft also learned from this time bomb and decided to push KB4577586 to Windows 10 systems this week to remove any Flash code, as the app does not work anyway.