Roughly four years ago, Adobe decided to abandon development of the mobile version of their popular Flash Player browser plugin. Their excuse at the time was that this move would enable them to focus more on HTML5 development for mobile devices and allow them to put more effort into maintaining the fluidity and security of their desktop Flash plugin.

Why Flash Player Update Notices Can Be Problematic. The most widely known example of a fake Flash update is the Flashback Trojan horse, which first masqueraded as a Flash Player installer package targeting Mac users. Over 600,000 Mac users installed the fake update to Adobe Flash thinking it was valid, thereby infecting their machines with malware.

Fast forward to the present, and half of Adobe's agenda in 2011 has played out as they expected. HTML5 has come to replace Flash in almost every regard on mobile devices, and has even started to take over the desktop browser segment. But the other half? Not so much.

Why You Should Uninstall Flash Player on Your Computer

Flash for desktop browsers is still as clunky as ever, considering browsers have to reroute this type of content through Adobe's plugin rather than using their native coding to render comparable HTML5 content. But it gets even worse when you learn that Adobe had a huge security hole in Flash that allowed hackers to 'to take control of the affected system.' While that's been patched already, it will surely happen again in the near future.

Adobe Flash Player For Mac Corruption

This type of thing has become a common occurrence for Adobe Flash, and it's so bad that Null Byte's admin, occupytheweb, an IT security professional and digital forensics investigator, recommends everyone uninstall it, calling it a 'hacker's best friend.' In fact, he has highlightedmultiplevulnerabilities in previous Flash versions that have allowed him to control a victim's system, and states that new ones are coming out every day.

When you consider that HTML5 is generally much faster and more secure, you start to realize that Flash has become obsolete. Many sites these days default to Flash when the plugin is detected, but would otherwise render the same content over HTML5—so why risk your device's security in the first place? If you're ready to take the leap, I'll show you how to uninstall Adobe Flash and push your browser into the modern HTML5 age below.

Uninstalling Flash on Windows

First up, you'll need to download the Adobe Flash uninstaller program. Click on the link below and the file should begin downloading immediately.

• Adobe Flash Player Uninstaller for Windows (.exe)

Adobe Flash Player For Chrome

You'll have to close any programs that could be using Flash, so make sure to fully exit Firefox, Internet Explorer, and/or Microsoft Edge before you begin. Next, simply run the Adobe Flash Uninstaller file, then click 'Uninstall' to remove Flash from your system.