Rudy Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Users are reporting that Apple's MacBook Air models, which were unveiled Wednesday, are shipping without the Adobe Flash plugin installed.The lack is a departure from previous Mac products, which came with Adobe Flash preloaded, although it remains unclear whether all future Mac computers will ship without the software. Engadget noticed the missing plugin, reporting that Flash content worked fine after Flash Player was installed on Apple's new ultra-thin notebook. Apple announced the new 11.6-inch MacBook Air models and an updated 13.3-inch MacBook Air version with instant-on capabilities at its "Back to the Mac" event Wednesday. AppleInsider broke news of the 11.6-inch model well in advance of Wednesday's announcement. Apple and Adobe have been at odds lately, with the two companies' CEOs exchanging barbs in a public war of words earlier this year. This spring, responding to criticism of Apple's choice not to support Flash on its iOS devices, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs spoke out. "Flash has not performed well on mobile devices," wrote Jobs in an open letter in April, noting that Adobe at that time had yet to ship Flash on a smartphone. "We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it." Continuing to defend the lack of Flash support on the iPad and iPhone, Jobs claimed that Flash is the No. 1 cause of crashes on the Mac. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen quickly denied the claim, pushing the blame onto Apple's operating system, calling Jobs' comments a "smokescreen." Narayen told the Wall Street Journal Jobs' accusation that Flash drains the battery life of mobile devices was "patently false." In May, Adobe responded to Jobs' open letter with an open letter of its own and an advertising campaign. "We [Heart] Apple," the ads read. "What we don't love is anybody taking away your freedom to choose what you create, how you create it, and what you experience on the web." Despite the tense words on both sides, Apple decided to 'play nice' last month when it relaxed restrictions on third-party development tools. Adobe had developed a cross-compiler to convert Flash apps into iOS apps, but decided to stop work on it after the tool was blocked when Apple banned intermediary tools in its iPhone 4 SDK license. After Apple lifted its restrictions of third-party development tools in early September, Adobe revealed that it would continue development of its Packager cross-compiler for iPhone. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/10/21/new_macbook_air_ships_without_flash_installed.html I guess it makes sense... if you really care it can easily be downloaded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick H. Supervisor Posted October 21, 2010 Supervisor Share Posted October 21, 2010 :o It's not already there??? Whatever shall I do?! Oh wait...I'll download it. Problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeChipshop Member Posted October 21, 2010 Member Share Posted October 21, 2010 think we all saw this coming... but download it users will. In fact (having only used friends Macbook Airs) i didn't even know it used to be installed in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 So what? Just download it! What a complete non-issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Star Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Making a mountain out of a molehill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lachlan Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Just thought I should point this out.. http://www.adobe.com/licensing/ .. you have to pay for a royalty fee if the system is embedded. Maybe they are trying to skip the fee by getting people to download it themselves. I think they are doing the same thing with the Bluray players because they dont want to pay another company... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillz Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 We should make a new topic for every OEM Windows PC in the world that also doesn't include Flash by default... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomwarren Veteran Posted October 21, 2010 Veteran Share Posted October 21, 2010 Uhh non-issue to be honest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted October 21, 2010 Subscriber² Share Posted October 21, 2010 Making a mountain out of a molehill. This. Who can even be bothered writing articles like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeChipshop Member Posted October 21, 2010 Member Share Posted October 21, 2010 We should make a new topic for every OEM Windows PC in the world that also doesn't include Flash by default... Exactly... and we all survive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Patriot Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 We should make a new topic for every OEM Windows PC in the world that also doesn't include Flash by default... Exactly what I was thinking. This has to be the dumbest article I've ever seen from Engadget (and AppleInsider for reposting what they wrote). It is FUD, pure and simple, and it is purely intended to drive page views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyDX Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 How shocking! When I installed Windows 7 I also had to manually download flash... a few seconds of my life got wasted and now Apple isn't any better! :angry: No but seriously, I don't even expect for flash to be pre-installed on anything, as others already said, why this is newsworthy is beyond me :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeet Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Steve Jobs, the killer of brain cells has down it again. Kinda pointless to ship something with x not installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argi Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 And it'll be installed the first time the person visits Youtube. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 As far as I know, Flash doesnt come preinstalled on anything. Steve Jobs, the killer of brain cells has down it again. Kinda pointless to ship something with x not installed. PCs dont come with flash either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montage Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Very silly move IMHO. User gets Macbook Air... User turns it on to do some browsing... User is presented with the need to install Flash... Adobe are provided very useful stats that argue their case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliott Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 As far as I know, Flash doesnt come preinstalled on anything. Yea, as far as I understand, this has been pretty common in the PC industry for a while. Ironically enough (considering Apple's rampage against Flash), every OS X install comes with Flash already. This is the first Mac in a long time without Flash. Very silly move IMHO. User gets Macbook Air... User turns it on to do some browsing... User is presented with the need to install Flash... Adobe are provided very useful stats that argue their case! Or it'll go like this: User gets MacBook Air... User saves ample amounts of battery life by browsing without Flash! :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techno_Funky Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Huh!! even windows does not come with flash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techbeck Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Yea, as far as I understand, this has been pretty common in the PC industry for a while. Ironically enough (considering Apple's rampage against Flash), every OS X install comes with Flash already. This is the first Mac in a long time without Flash. Ahhh, I get ya. Just Jobs sending another statement to Adobe which is stupid. That guy just cannot play nice. Anyway, I normally wipe systems that I buy anyway and do a fresh install of the OS. And with how often Flash is updated, I dont really care if it comes preinstalled or not on any system. Chances are, you will have to update right away anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 Yea, as far as I understand, this has been pretty common in the PC industry for a while. Ironically enough (considering Apple's rampage against Flash), every OS X install comes with Flash already. This is the first Mac in a long time without Flash. Most likely it's the first but it won't be the last. I'd say we've seen the end of OSX including Flash by default. A few years ago I would have been shocked but nowadays I don't use flash anymore anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted October 21, 2010 Veteran Share Posted October 21, 2010 Oh noes it does not come with it... just download it. Any OEM copy of a standard OS does not come with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliott Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Most likely it's the first but it won't be the last. I'd say we've seen the end of OSX including Flash by default. Agreed. I doubt we'll see Flash come preinstalled with Lion. A few years ago I would have been shocked but nowadays I don't use flash anymore anyway Same here. I just use Flash for the few things that force me into it: most web video players. Luckily, Vimeo and YouTube have HTML5 alternatives and Jilion SublimeVideo is awesome for other content providers looking to start using HTML5. Brightcove (a big player in the industry) also has experimental support for HTML5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman273 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Agreed. I doubt we'll see Flash come preinstalled with Lion. Same here. I just use Flash for the few things that force me into it: most web video players. Luckily, Vimeo and YouTube have HTML5 alternatives and Jilion SublimeVideo is awesome for other content providers looking to start using HTML5. Brightcove (a big player in the industry) also has experimental support for HTML5. Maybe they're doing it to specifically show how flash isn't as necessary as it used to be. This would bolster their "HTML 5 is enough" argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xilo Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 I would say most Mac users don't know how to download and install flash. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ci7 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Agreed. I doubt we'll see Flash come preinstalled with Lion. Same here. I just use Flash for the few things that force me into it: most web video players. Luckily, Vimeo and YouTube have HTML5 alternatives and Jilion SublimeVideo is awesome for other content providers looking to start using HTML5. Brightcove (a big player in the industry) also has experimental support for HTML5. maybe when YT activate it by default for capable browsers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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