Microsoft has announced that it will soon start blocking outdated versions of Adobe Flash Player from running in Internet Explorer on Windows 7. Specifically, the company will start using its ActiveX control blocking feature to prevent web pages from loading content with outdated Flash controls on October 11.
From Microsoft:
Starting on October 11, 2016, we're expanding the out-of-date ActiveX control blocking feature to include outdated versions of Adobe Flash Player. This update notifies you when a Web page tries to load a Flash ActiveX control older than (but not including):
- Adobe Flash Player version 21.0.0.198
- Adobe Flash Player Extended Support Release version 18.0.0.241
It's important to note that this only applies to Internet Explorer 11 running on Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2. If you're running Windows 8.1, Windows 10 or Windows Server 2012R2, you'll remain unaffected since Windows Update automatically installs important Flash updates.
If you're curious, Microsoft has provided a running list of outdated ActiveX controls that it is blocking, including older versions of Java and Silverlight.
