Windows 10: Microsoft will permanently remove Flash by July

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Adobe Flash, which is plagued by countless security gaps and no longer plays a role in the modern WWW, actually reached its end of life on December 31, 2020. The corresponding patch KB4577586 for removal from Windows 10 was optional so far. By July this will be history for good.

How Flash will say goodbye to Windows 10, Microsoft explained in a blog post last year. At the end of April, the company updated and specified exactly this post, as has only now been noticed by ZDNet.

So far, users have been able to remove Flash from the system with the optional patch KB4577586 via Windows Update or Windows Server Update Services. As can be seen from the revised blog post, the patch will lose its optional status from June and will initially be integrated into the preview update for Windows 10 version 1809 and newer. The patch should then become part of the next cumulative update on the second Tuesday of the month.

The final end comes in July

In July, KB4577586, also known as the “Update for Removal of Adobe Flash Player”, will also be included in the cumulative update for Windows 10 in the older versions 1607 and 1507. The integration of the patch is then planned to be mandatory for the “Monthly Rollup” and the “Security Only Update” for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 as well as Windows Embedded 8 Standard.

Windows 10 21H1 comes without Flash

The first Windows version directly without Adobe Flash, however, will be Windows 10 21H1 alias “May Update”, which was recently completed and, according to Microsoft's previous plans, will be based on Windows 10 Build 19043.928. If the update is distributed to 21H1, users do not need to install the new major version immediately. Up until the end of 2018, the installation of the updates to a new major version (“feature update”), which was distributed twice a year, was initiated automatically as soon as Microsoft marked the corresponding system as compatible. Since spring 2019 there has only been a hint for the update in the Windows 10 settings.

When users want to install the new main version, they decide for themselves unless the version currently in use is nearing the end of support – then Microsoft will force the installation again. Without it, users would no longer receive any monthly updates on the second Tuesday after the support phase out of their version. Microsoft currently grants users of Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro the last version 18 months of support after a new major version is available.