Hardware :: Adobe Testing Optimized Version Of Flash For Apple's MacBook Air
Nov 17, 2010
Adobe's chief executive revealed this week that his company is currently testing an optimized version of Flash built specifically for Apple's newly released MacBook Air.
In an interview at the Web 2.0 Summit this week, Shantanu Narayen said that Adobe is looking to improve battery life on the MacBook Air with a new custom build of Adobe Flash, currently in beta testing in the company's labs. According to Engadget, he noted that battery life performance depends on hardware acceleration.
"When we have access to hardware acceleration, we've proven that Flash has equal or better performance on every platform," he said.
His comments come after testing of the new MacBook Air found that ditching Flash improved battery life by two hours. The new notebook gets six hours of uptime loading pages in the Safari browser, but that dips to four hours once Adobe Flash is installed.
Apple caused a stir in October, when it released its newly redesigned MacBook Air models, but shipped them without the Flash plugin preinstalled. Apple portrayed the change as an advantage to consumers, as leaving the user to install Flash ensures they have the latest version.
Apple and Adobe have been at odds in 2010, in a feud that gained considerable steam after Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs published an open letter criticizing Flash as old technology that is unfit for the modern era of mobile computers. Apple does not allow Flash onto its iOS-powered devices, including the iPhone and iPad.
Jobs also revealed that Flash is the number one reason for crashes on the Mac platform. For its part, Adobe fired back and said that any crashes of Flash in Mac OS X are not related to its software, but are instead the fault of Apple's operating system.
Adobe releases Flash 10.1.Still no hardware acceleration for OSX.Flash for the Mac still sucks.This is why Jobs had to call your arses out. Fix this, then talk about Flash for the iPhone/iPad platform.
I just purchased an iMac OS X version 10.7.3. My kids keep trying to play games but are prompted that they need to download Adobe Flash player. I follow the prompts for the latest version, but no luck. It says it's successfully installed. When I go to system preferences and click on the flash player, it says "plug in version 11.2.202.228 is installed" but when I click the "check now" box and it tells me to the Adobe websitem, under version information it says I have 9.0.124.0 installed? I have uninstalled and reinstalled countless times to no avail.
Info: iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.3)
Apple has stopped bundling Adobe Flash on new Macs, ostensibly so users could obtain the latest, secure version themselves, but vastly increased battery life seems to be another leading reason.
According to testing performed by Chris Foresman of Ars Technica, the new MacBook Air can last for a full six hours after loading a series of webpages in Safari, but its battery performance drops down to four hours once Adobe Flash is installed and the same sites are loaded.
"Flash-based ads kept the CPU running far more than seemed necessary," Foresman wrote. Without the Flash plugin installed, websites typically display static ads in place of Flash content, erasing the need for constant processing power demanded by the Flash plugin's rendering engine.
With Flash ads consuming as much as 33 percent of the MacBook Air's battery potential, it's no wonder why Apple has demonstrated no interest in getting a version of Flash installed on its iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, all of which have much smaller batteries.
This summer, Adobe launched a public relations attack on Apple for failing to support Flash on its iOS devices, nor allowing Adobe to deliver a version of Flash for the iOS platform, nor approving apps for the iOS that were created in Adobe's Flash Professional application. Apple has backed away from refusing to approve apps created with third party tools, but has shown no interest in getting Flash content to run on its iOS.
When asked for "any updates" on the company's stance on Flash during its quarterly earnings report, chief executive Steve Jobs quipped, "flash memory? We love flash memory," before taking the next question.
Apple's removal of Adobe's Flash plugin from a default install on the new MacBook Air coincided with the company's debut of a more conservative new "wireless productivity test" it said was more in line with actual use, and better standardized for accurate comparisons between models. Being able to test the new machine without its battery being taxed by Flash ads certainly helps the company achieve better results.
The Shrinking Flash Platform
Microsoft stopped bundling Adobe Flash with the release of Windows Vista in 2007, although its motivation was likely due to the company's efforts to push its rival Silverlight plugin. However, Windows implements Flash as an ActiveX control, which means users can click on Flash placeholders within a webpage and the Flash plugin will install itself. New Mac users will have to manually download and install Flash from Adobe in order to make it available.
Apple sells far more iOS devices than Macs, and no iOS devices support runtimes for Flash content. That has had a major effect upon advertisers, publishers, website design, and online video broadcasters, who have collectively made monumental shifts away from Flash. This in turn has made Flash playback far less important on the desktop than it was just a year or two ago, although there is still important content tied to Flash.
Apple has removed Flash content from its own website, although it also has supported Adobe's efforts to add hardware acceleration to the Mac OS X version of Flash, and has approved the Skyfire plugin for iOS' Mobile Safari, which uses a gateway service to translate Flash videos into HTML5 videos that can play on Apple's devices.
Apple this week is reported to be testing the first internal builds of Mac OS X 10.5.8, one of the final updates, if not the last, slated for its current Leopard operating system software.News of this particular maintenance update is significant for owners of PowerPC-based Macs, given that Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard requires a Mac with an Intel processor. That means Mac OS X 10.5.8 or 10.5.9 will likely represent Apple's final push towards solidify and stabilize Leopard before shifting the majority of its resources towards the first point release of Snow Leopard, which will arrive this fall.
Apple on Wednesday issued a broad beta distribution of Mac OS X 10.6.4, the fourth planned maintenance and security update for its Snow Leopard operating system that has been under development internally for several weeks.The pre-release software, labeled Mac OS X 10.6.4 build 10F37, made its way to Apple Developer Connection (ADC) members just one day after a more elite set of testers belonging to Apple's Apple Seed program got first licks at the beta.
I know developer previews have at least one specific goal at giving third party devs early access so they can get a sense of new APIs and start updating/creating apps, but they also serve for bug reporting. Do you think Apple should open up OS X beta testing to a larger community of users?
I recently removed Flashback Malware from my computer. I used Flashback Remover [URL] to detect, quarantine and delete the malware. I've since tried to reinstall Flash, but to no avail. I've tried downloading it from the adobe site directly, then installing it. It says the install was successful, but when I go to a site that uses flash, I'm directed to download flash.
Before I found the malware on my computer, I tried moving my plug-ins ("/library/Internet Plug-Ins" and "~/library/Internet Plug-Ins") to a separate file on my desktop to test which ones may be corrupt. Maybe this changed the path or the file for my plug-ins? I don't know, but I'd really like some help. All of my software is up to date, according to Software Update.
I've never really had a problem with my macbook, but for the last two weeks or so, I can't watch any Flash videos like YouTube. It'll work for about fifteen or so seconds and then the whole thing will start skipping and the whole computer acts choppy. Firefox (or Safari) CPU usage spikes, and the computer gets really hot. Then I'll have to wait for a minute or so for the macbook to cool off before I can use it. I've tried downgrading from Flash 10 to Flash 9 -- no better.
Yesterday I updated Adobe Flash Player, and now I am having all kinds of unnatural behavior on my MacAir.
MS Word crashes, or freezes and Pages is not working properly. there is a constant loud whirr like the guts of the MacAir are about to fly out.My computer is now freezing. Am I correct in assuming it is the Flash Player, or what should I check?Can I get along ok without the Flash? I would like to just dump it!
Have big problems with YouTube playing. YouTube won't play, won't download the movie. The screen is black and in the middle is runing the circle for hours if you won't.I tried to reinstall the Adobe's Flash player, but I have the same problem. I also tried to clear all cookies, but problem is the same.
I think, that problem is realy in Flash player because once error appear, but I can't remember it.
I recently recieved the Flash Player Ugrade notice on my MacBook Pro rinning Lion and I accepted it and began the upgrade. Right in the middle of the upgrade, my nac crashed and I had to power down reboot. From that point on, the upgrade will not install and only gives a "installed failed". I went to the Adobe site and used the uninstall tool for flash, still gives error on install of any version of flash. Â
To update adobe flash player someone told me to go to apple>system preferences>adobe flash, but I can't find adobe or flash in my system preferences. What now, if I need to update (or get) adobe flash?
I can't view any videos on my MacBook Pro without Adobe Flash and it is not available through Apple App Store. I do a lot of banking on my computer and I've read that Adobe Flash has a lot of problems. I'm concerned it might affect the security of my computer. Am I the only one concerned about this?
I cannot get adobe Flash player to install on My MBP running Snow Leopard. It Starts to install but hesitates at from 80% to 95% then finishes but does not work.
I was told by my internet provider that a computer in my house has a Trojan. He said it arrived at 4:30 pm. I was working on my Mac then, looking at The Bay and WestJet sites. An "Adobe Flash Player install" popped up on my computer and I just closed it... I don't remember exactly what I pressed to make it go away. So now I don't know if there is a trojan on my computer or not and what to do about it.Â
When i install Adobe Flash player , Asked me to close Safari so I'm did it but keep on asking me to close the program Safari so I'm try to restart power when i started OS I'm try to install the flash player first but it not working
