Adobe has announced that it will be discouraging content creators from using Flash in favor of newer web standards like HTML5. While Adobe Flash as an application will still continue to exist, it will be renamed Animate CC and be intended mostly for interactive web animation.
"Today, open standards like HTML5 have matured and provide many of the capabilities that Flash ushered in," said Adobe in its statement. "Looking ahead, we encourage content creators to build with new web standards and will continue to focus on providing the best tools and services for designers and developers."
The news of Adobe stepping away from Flash as a web plugin doesn't come as a surprise. While popular in the early days of the internet, its use waned considerably over time, including never catching on with smartphones.
YouTube, Firefox and McAfee Labs have also given the application a wide berth, citing high memory usage and security vulnerabilities as major concerns with the program.
Web animators and designers who still use the program will not be directly affected by the decision, as Adobe still plans to provide support. This includes working with Facebook to detect vulnerabilities early so the social media site can securely host Flash-designed browser games.
Also, while the name change will take effect in 2016, Animate CC is still expected to work in the same capacity as Flash Professional CC, even allowing developers to make content compatible with open web standards that can provide safer and more stable sites online.
Flash may not be extinct yet, as web creators still have the ultimate choice to develop with it, Adobe's distancing notwithstanding. That said, the sun seems to be setting on the horizon, as even the webtoon virtuosos of the Flash-created Homestar Runner have make a new home on YouTube.
In fact, the aptly titled "Flash is Dead!!" short does a succinct and offbeat job illustrating the shift, as only Homestar and his wrestleman rival Strong Bad can.
Hypertext Markup Lotion, indeed.
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