Embedded Files
Use a 2nd browser for Java, Flash and other plugins
Ghacks
While most browser makers plan to drop support for Java, Flash and other plugins such as Silverlight or Quicktime, or have stopped supporting these technologies already, there are still a lot of sites and services out there that can only be accessed if certain plugins are installed in the browser.
If you take Google Chrome for instance you will quickly notice that it supports Flash thanks to a native integration of the technology but no other plugin. This means that Chrome users cannot access content on the Internet that require Silverlight, Java or other plugins.
Microsoft created Edge in Windows 10 without support for these plugins as well, and it too supports only Flash thanks to a native integration but not other plugin.
Mozilla Firefox on the other hand supports plugins but Mozilla plans to drop support eventually (in 2017 likely).
You are probably wondering why browser makes drop support for these plugins considering that some services and sites still require them. The answer is because it is beneficial to security and stability of the browser.
If you check the crash stats of Firefox 45.0.2 that Mozilla collected over the course of seven days, you will notice that four of the top ten crashes are attributed to plugins (positions 2,4,5 and 9).
What you can do about it
What you can do about it
Internet users, at least those on desktop machines, face two issues:
Deal with stability and security issues when plugins are used/installed on the system.
Make sure content that requires plugins can be accessed.
While you can simply run a browser that supports plugins and be done with it, I suggest you use a secondary browser for that instead.
This is also the only option if your main browser does not support plugins anymore.
Additionally, separating plugin content from everything else deals with the first issue mentioned above if your main browser supports plugins.
Since you only use it to connect to sites requiring plugins, say a video streaming site or online banking site, your main browser won't suffer from stability issues nor run into the risk of falling victim to attacks targeting plugins.
The browser
A couple of browsers cannot be used for this because of missing support for plugins. This includes Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers such as Vivaldi or Opera, and Microsoft Edge.
This leaves Mozilla Firefox (or a Firefox-based browser) or Internet Explorer, and while both should work fine, I'd suggest you select Firefox for that as you can install a second copy of the browser easily, or use another profile instead exclusively for plugin related content.
My suggestion would be Firefox ESR, an extended support release of the browser. The reason for the suggestion is that ESR is regularly updated with security updates and bug fixes, but only every eight release cycle with major feature updates.
This should give you even more time in regards to plugin support than regular versions of the browser. Also, you don't have to deal with changes made to the browser whenever new versions are released.
Alternatively, you may also download a portable version of Firefox to run it completely independent of any installed copies of the browser.
Setup
Download and install Firefox ESR from the official website. Make sure you download and use the 32-bit version as many plugins are not available as 64-bit versions.
If your main browser is not Firefox, skip the following step.
You cannot run Firefox ESR if another copy of Firefox is already running. To get around this, do the following:
Close all versions of Firefox.
Run Firefox ESR with the parameters -p -no-remote. If you have placed a desktop icon during installation, you may right-click on it and append the parameters to the end of the target line.
The profile selection screen should appear.
Select create profile and follow the instructions. I suggest you pick a descriptive name for the profile, e.g. Firefox Plugins Enabled.
Once done, close the browser and edit the shortcut to -p "Firefox Plugins Enabled" -no-remote. This ensures that you can run the browser using the newly created profile directly without having to use the profile manager each time first.
Now that Firefox has been set up, it is time to install plugins on the system.
Plugin download links
Below is a selection of download links for popular plugins:
Adobe Flash (make sure you uncheck the third-party offers on the download page)
Microsoft Silverlight (make sure you uncheck Make Bing my Search Engine and Make MSN my homepage during installation).
Installation and configuration
Install the plugins on the system that you require. Once done, it may be necessary to block these plugins in other browsers so that they are only enabled when you run your Firefox ESR version.
If you are using another Firefox version, load about:addons in the browser, switch to plugins, and set all plugins you find on the page to "never activate".
In Internet Explorer, tap on the Alt-key, and select Tools > Manage Add-ons. Locate any plugin installed and set it to disabled on the page to make sure it is not used.
I suggest you do so even if you are not using a browser at all.
Usage
All that is left now is to make sure you use the plugin supporting browser whenever you need to access content on the Internet that requires plugins, and another browser for the remaining activity.
Now You: Do you still require plugins?
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse