It’s just a rumor, but it’s being said that there are plans out there that Google will release future versions of Chrome with Flash bundled.
If it’s true, this fact would be really astonishing for me, since Google usually tries to push open-source technologies, which Flash definately isn’t. Further, GWT is a direct rival of the Adobe Flex platform, so it really doesn’t marke sense why Google should increase its support in Flash.
Thus, I can’t believe that this rumor is true, but if it is, it would make me a really happy man :-)
My vision: Get Flash preinstalled on ChromeOS and Android! yay! :-)
Update: It’s true! An official statement confirms the partnership between Adobe and Google by integrating the Flash Player into Chrome:
Paul Betlem (Adobe): Today, Google is releasing the initial integration of Flash Player with Chrome in their developer channel (behind a command line flag). Moving forward, Google will be including Flash Player in Chrome so users will always have the most current release and a safer and more seamless experience. The robust integration between Chrome and Flash Player will serve as a showcase for more consistent, seamless, and efficient Web browsing experiences. We feel that this significant effort by both Google and Adobe will directly improve the speed of innovation and move the Web forward, benefiting the entire community of developers and end-users.
The Chromium authors blogged about the benefits, which are:
- When users download Chrome, they will also receive the latest version of Adobe Flash Player. There will be no need to install Flash Player separately.
- Users will automatically receive updates related to Flash Player using Google Chrome’s auto-update mechanism. This eliminates the need to manually download separate updates and reduces the security risk of using outdated versions.
- With Adobe’s help, we plan to further protect users by extending Chrome’s “sandbox” to web pages with Flash content.
