We cannot deny that, in the mid-90s, Flash Player was an essential complement to be able to surf the Internet. Thanks to this plugin, websites could have animations, effects and all kinds of elements that, then, HTML, CSS and JavaScript did not allow. Times change, and standards (such as HTML5) were implementing the functions and features offered by the Adobe plugin in such a way that, each time, it was more dispensable. And, since December 31, 2020, Flash is no longer supported, browsers have removed its support, and its use is not recommended.
Although we have been without Flash for 10 months , and for a long time it was recommended not to use it and browsers were prevented from trying to load this type of content, today there are still many websites that continue to use this type of content . It is easy to find someone who asks us to reproduce some content in Flash. The problem is that current web browsers don’t support it. Not even the extended support versions of Firefox.
If a website continues to use an outdated technology like it, it is best to pass by and look for an alternative. But there are times when we have no choice but to access it to find a certain content. So what can we do?
An old Firefox to be able to open Flash
Google Chrome and Edge have not been compatible with this add-on since their versions 88. And Firefox the same since version 85. Therefore, not only is it not recommended to open this type of content in the browser, but we must avoid it at all costs .
Of course, we do not recommend having an outdated browser on your PC, as that can be very expensive. But if there is no other option, and we need to access this type of content, a little trick that we can use is to use an old portable Firefox, a version that still supports Flash.
The last version that has been compatible with Flash (and the least problems it can give us) is the latest ESR of version 78. That is, Firefox 78.14. This extended support version has stopped receiving updates in September 2021, so it is a fairly updated version, compatible with the plugin, which should not give us too many problems.
We can download Firefox 78.14 ESR from PortableApps . Of course, although we will surely get warnings to update the browser, we must avoid installing the updates, since, if we go to the next ESR, 91, we will run out of Flash support.
Thanks to this version we will be able to access any Flash Player content without problem . In addition, being a portable browser, when we finish it will be enough to delete the browser folder to erase it from the PC without leaving a trace.
Be careful when using an outdated browser
If we want to be able to load Flash content, we have no choice but to resort to an outdated browser. However, using these types of browsers in our day-to-day life can be very dangerous , so it is inadvisable to use them.
Outdated web browsers have serious vulnerabilities and security flaws that can endanger our computer. These failures, moreover, are usually public, so it is very easy for malicious websites or users to take advantage of these failures to endanger the security of the PC. The older the browser version, the more bugs will be known, and the more danger we will run.
