AppleInsider › Forums › Software › Mac Software › Adobe Flash 10.3 adds auto-update notification for Apple's Mac OS X
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Adobe Flash 10.3 adds auto-update notification for Apple's Mac OS X - Page 2

post #41 of 58
5/13/11 at 9:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by shompa View Post

Flash crashes my Safari browser 5-10 time a day. I also love how Flash often takes 100% cpu time on a 2.7ghz I7. Worst program ever.

Flash needs to die. The faster the better.

Apple should buy Adobe just to make them stop making Flash.

I've heard this before. But on my iMac G5 (PPC) from 2004, I've never had a problem with Safari/flash like this (excessive CPU time or crashing).

Worrisome that modern multi-core CPU's with 10x the speed/capacity can be brought to their knees by something that works fine on an old system.

With the no-glare, no yellow, no banding, no spot screen and no weird performance halting problems, it's hard to see an upgrade motivation even after 7 years. I use the latest MacBook at work and it doesn't seem like that big a difference.
Reply
Reply
post #42 of 58
5/14/11 at 3:39am
Well since updating to Flash 10.3 Safari on my iMac has been crashing very frequently on sites with lots of Flash content!

Time for Adobe to withdraw Flash and promote HTML 5!
Reply
Reply
post #43 of 58
5/14/11 at 4:54am
I've been encountering less and less sites lately that need Flash. In a few years people will think of it like RealPlayer: some app you can install if you want but in general not worth it and you'll move on with your day. Remember when you couldn't get through a day without encountering something that needed Windows Media Player? Now you can go for weeks and not realize that Flip4Mac is not installed.

Meet your doom, Adobe.
Reply
Reply
post #44 of 58
5/14/11 at 10:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bedouin View Post

I've been encountering less and less sites lately that need Flash. In a few years people will think of it like RealPlayer: some app you can install if you want but in general not worth it and you'll move on with your day. Remember when you couldn't get through a day without encountering something that needed Windows Media Player? Now you can go for weeks and not realize that Flip4Mac is not installed.

Meet your doom, Adobe.

I use GlimmerBlocker on my Mac and AdBlockers on my PC and anything else including AtomicWeb on my iPad(2). Takes care of most of the garbage, Flash or otherwise, I do not want to waste time even loading.

Yet it allows enough through eg. YouTube or other sites with Flash video I want to watch. Unfortunately in my country Flash YouTube is slow enough as it is, HTML5 YouTube just takes forever to load. Unless you're on a mobile device, then you get an mp4 but a low quality one meant for mobile.
Reply
Reply
post #45 of 58
5/14/11 at 10:42pm
"In the past, Mac users often had trouble keeping up with Flash Player updates since the Mac OS and Flash Player ship schedules are not in sync," Adobe employees Peleus Uhley and Lindsey Wegrzyn wrote in an official blog post. "With this new feature, Flash Player will automatically check each week for new updates and notify the user when new updates are available. This feature matches the auto-update notification capability previously implemented on Microsoft Windows."

This is the real gem... Is it just me or did you realise they never said that they would actually make Mac OS Flash Player ship in sync with Windows Flash Player... Instead we get the strawman of Mac OS updates not being in sync with Flash Player. (Not that keeping up with Windows Flash Player is that big a deal besides patching endless security vulnerabilities)

Hey Adobe, how's Flash on mobile devices coming along? Another few years, you say? But you've had at least three... What's that? Yeah, I thought so. WTF mate.
Reply
Reply
post #46 of 58
5/15/11 at 2:55am
The flash plugin has actually gotten far better recently. I played a video in Quicktime X and a youtube flash video. Both the plugin and Quicktime according to Activity Monitor both used around 10% of the CPU (I know it says 14.5 in the screen shot below but I just caught the plugin as it was initialising, it hovers around ten once loaded). So its performance, at least for video, is what you would expect.

HOWEVER, I will point out one VERY big flaw with flash player which will make it very, VERY insecure on Mac OS X.

The stupid thing is still a 32-bit application...
MacOS' security features (ASLR & NX) only affect 64-bit applications which makes the Flash Player one giant mother f***ing hole in the system!

Thank christ for click to flash.

... at night.

Reply

... at night.

Reply
post #47 of 58
5/15/11 at 3:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by benanderson89 View Post


HOWEVER, I will point out one VERY big flaw with flash player which will make it very, VERY insecure on Mac OS X.

The stupid thing is still a 32-bit application...
MacOS' security features (ASLR & NX) only affect 64-bit applications which makes the Flash Player one giant mother f***ing hole in the system!

Thank christ for click to flash.

Dude, iTunes is 32-bit as well. If 32-bit apps drive you to extreme nerd rage, the least you can do is spread it around a bit between Apple, Adobe and Microsoft.
Reply
Reply
post #48 of 58
5/15/11 at 5:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Superbass View Post

Dude, iTunes is 32-bit as well. If 32-bit apps drive you to extreme nerd rage, the least you can do is spread it around a bit between Apple, Adobe and Microsoft.

iTunes is not a browser plugin, it should be 64-bit but it doesn't have any major cause for concern with regards to security since it tends not to access the Internet, same with products from Microsoft - since when does Word need to access a website? It doesn't, it just leaves it up-to the installed web browser. The Flash Player, on the other hand, delivers content from the Internet. Adobe tout "security updates" so much with each new release of the Flash Player then leave it as a 32-bit plugin which on MacOS' makes it a gigantic vulnerability.

People are starting to write more malware for MacOS with its increased popularity, Flash running as a 32-bit application will lack ASLR and NX (to a degree) and lets face it, ASLR in MacOS is pretty terrible to begin with. NX is also only fully utilised on 64-bit applications.

For a plugin that delivers internet content, Adobe really have missed the mark with MacOS. They seem to have finally gotten the performance sorted out, but the security is pretty much non-existant, once someone gets past the security built into Flash Player, a user's Macintosh will be nothing more than a giant playground to them.

... at night.

Reply

... at night.

Reply
post #49 of 58
5/15/11 at 9:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by benanderson89 View Post

iTunes is not a browser plugin, it should be 64-bit but it doesn't have any major cause for concern with regards to security since it tends not to access the Internet, same with products from Microsoft - since when does Word need to access a website? It doesn't, it just leaves it up-to the installed web browser.

iTunes doesn't access the internet? Outlook?
Reply
Reply
post #50 of 58
5/15/11 at 9:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Superbass View Post

iTunes doesn't access the internet? Outlook?

iTunes does have networking capabilities, but they are regulated to sharing media over a LAN and uses WebKit to access the iTunes Store. I think even iTunes U and Podcasts are hosted via the iTunes Store.

That does make it inherently more secure than iTunes Store connecting to every website in the world.

Since its pulling the WebKit framework is it possible that its run at 64-bit within the 32-bit iTunes app, the way that 640bit Safari can run the 32-bit Flash and other plugins?

Either way, I fully expect to see iTunes X arrive this Autumn with a complete rewrite to 64-bit and Cocoa.
Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"
Reply
Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"
Reply
post #51 of 58
5/15/11 at 2:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Superbass View Post

iTunes doesn't access the internet? Outlook?

Just as solipsism described with iTunes, Outlook is also restricted to what it can access. Outlook access the email protocols (SMTP, POP and IMAP) as well Microsoft Exchange. They are secured (SSL) and password protected connections. Any HTML formatted email will use the webkit engine to fetch and render the information via HTTP/HTTPS, and that will be the 64-bit engine underlying OSX.

Flash Player is entirely different. Although it appears to be running inside Safari, it is actually running as a separate process AND has access to your hardware. Your webcam, your audio input/output, user input (keyboard & mouse capture) and local file system are all open for Flash Player to meddle with, it is not the browser requesting these services, its the Flash Player process.

Flash Player can also read and write data to and from a user's file system independent of the browser process and can also trigger local executables. With click to flash enabled, I found that the download buttons on Adobe's website are actually flash buttons. When clicked, they start the Adobe download manager which resides on MY computers internal hard disk drive.

Flash Player as a 64-bit executable would at least give better protection in MacOS against code execution and hijacking. As a 32-bit executable, you might as well invite malicious code into your computer, serve it cocktails and give it a tour of your passwords.

... at night.

Reply

... at night.

Reply
post #52 of 58
5/15/11 at 2:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by benanderson89 View Post

With click to flash enabled, I found that the download buttons on Adobe's website are actually flash buttons. When clicked, they start the Adobe download manager which resides on MY computers internal hard disk drive.

Check this out for irony.
  1. Go to www.me.com
  2. Access the iDisk portion of the MobileMe site.
  3. Click on the “Upload a file of files” button at the top middle of the window.
  4. Right click on the green arrow to reveal Adobe Flash.
Apparently even Apple is okay with Flash for accessing the user’s drive.
Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"
Reply
Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"
Reply
post #53 of 58
5/15/11 at 2:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

Check this out for irony.
  1. Go to www.me.com
  2. Access the iDisk portion of the MobileMe site.
  3. Click on the “Upload a file of files” button at the top middle of the window.
  4. Right click on the green arrow to reveal Adobe Flash.
Apparently even Apple is okay with Flash for accessing the user’s drive.

Irony: Buy one, get one free.
I never noticed this, since the iDisk portion of my MobileMe subscription collects dust as I have a home server in the next room running as a webdav service. Three years of security lectures on my Undergraduate makes me paranoid of my information.

... at night.

Reply

... at night.

Reply
post #54 of 58
5/15/11 at 3:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by benanderson89 View Post

Irony: Buy one, get one free.
I never noticed this, since the iDisk portion of my MobileMe subscription collects dust as I have a home server in the next room running as a webdav service. Three years of security lectures on my Undergraduate makes me paranoid of my information.

1) I can’t find anywhere on Apple’s MobileMe pages, specifically where it’s describing how you can upload files from the browser, that it requires Adobe Flash.

2) I love my MobileMe service and it’s well worth the $65/year, but I also never use that part of the service.

3) I do use Dropbox, which has been indispensable for school since it will upload any changes to notes and papers whilst at school, thus saving me the potential loss of data between school and the home backup. It’s 256-bit AES encryption. It also syncs between devices so my data is always handy.

4) I also love 1Password which can use Dropbox for backups and syncing between devices. There is an option for Secure Notes that will take file attachments. Since 1Password is also 256-bit AES encryption it’s doubly protected. Since my passwords are 32 characters or longer I think I’m pretty well protected and backed up… well, at least more than the average user is.
Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"
Reply
Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"
Reply
post #55 of 58
5/17/11 at 9:03pm
Geez... I'm using a Core 2 Duo 2ghz non-unibody white MacBook temporarily this morning, and without adblockers or click-to-flash pages are just ABSOLUTELY LITTERED with Flash advertisments. I've forgotten how bad it is. On Flash 10.1 (will be upgrading soon) it's making the fans spin like crazy. I wonder if 10.3 will change this.

Granted, the white and black non-unibody Core 1 and Core 2 Duo Mac laptops are known for loud fan noise, but wow. I've really forgotten how noisy and power-sucking a simple thing like web browsing is.

Bring on the 13" ARM Mac laptops! That can run iOS and OSX apps!
Reply
Reply
post #56 of 58
5/17/11 at 9:16pm
I really don't understand what Adobe has been doing these past 5 years. There's obviously something very wrong with the Flash render engine that sucks up so much CPU.

Yes, recent improvements focused on video decoding but that only works on certain GPUs.

Adobe has some of the best software engineering talent in the world. It really is quite disturbing to see the rise, and then languishing of Flash.

And Flash on mobile? Years of promises still unfulfilled.

It was a big call by Steve to drop Flash on iOS. I had my doubts, but today they are completely erased. It was clearly the right call to make.

It's so ironic to see the Android and RIM tablets (which I do want to succeed to give people more options) tout Flash as a big advantage, yet suffer because of OS issues and, particularly, lack of tablet applications.
Reply
Reply
post #57 of 58
5/17/11 at 9:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post

And Flash on mobile? Years of promises still unfulfilled.

I hear it will be ready soon. Soooon.

Quote:
It was a big call by Steve to drop Flash on iOS. I had my doubts, but today they are completely erased. It was clearly the right call to make.

Imagine how much farther behind Flash would be today if Jobs didnt bring Flashs issues to attention. For all those that hate Apple they should be given them credit for getting other companies to finally get off their asses.
Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"
Reply
Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"
Reply
post #58 of 58
5/18/11 at 10:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by solipsism View Post

I hear it will be ready soon. Soooon.

Imagine how much farther behind Flash would be today if Jobs didn’t bring Flash’s issues to attention. For all those that hate Apple they should be given them credit for getting other companies to finally get off their asses.

"Site of the Day" used to be a staple on Adobe.com to feature "cool" websites that use Adobe technologies, particularly Flash.

There are no entries for May 2011. Just ONE entry for April 2011 and a few for March 2011.

I don't know about you, but for web designers and developers that "grew up" professionally in 1998-2005, this is BIG. You'd be absolutely thrilled if your website made it to Site of the Day, and it was a great reference and inspiration.

Even Adobe is running out of cool websites made in Flash.

Now I guess everybody wants their own iPhone (and perhaps Android) app instead.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Mac Software
AppleInsider › Forums › Software › Mac Software › Adobe Flash 10.3 adds auto-update notification for Apple's Mac OS X