Flash end of life

Hi,
I want to summarize and share my experiences:

  • Microsoft already released KB4577586 Update for the removal of Adobe Flash Player. I suggest to install it ASAP, it should never install again (and remove Flash OCX registration).
  • For use with CasparCG, it should be enough to have any previous version of Flash.ocx registered. 32-bit CasparCG (2.0x) requires 32-bit Flash.ocx, registered with regsvr32.exe from c:\Windows\SYSWOW64 folder. 64-bit CasparCG requires 64-bit Flash.ocx registered by “normal” regsvr32.exe from c:\Windows\System32. I tested the 32-bit only and it works very well (see last point).
  • The Flash.ocx files can be taken from existing installations (i.e. on Windows 7). 32-bit version is in c:\Windows\SYSWOW64\Marcromed\Flash, and 64-bit version is in c:\Windows\system32\Marcromed\Flash folder. Unfortunately, Adobe disabled download Flash download area on their website. I suggest to use version 11-12, as they were pretty stable (one-time loaded template were running for more than 3 months without interruption at my lab).
  • I noticed huge - 2x - performance boost (or return to normal) after the operation. I didn’t noted exact previous version of Flash, so I don’t know if it comes from downgrading Flash or it’s side-effect of removal. The operation reduced CPU and GPU usage as well.

So it seems that we can keep using Flash, unless it’s legal (i.e. Adobe can revoke licence) and we have binaries secured. It will not impact system security, as we play only our own code, and none of browsers uses the OCX (IE was last browser that was using the ActiveX version of Flash).

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