May 9, 2012 at 4:35 PM ET
Apple has just released a pair of security updates for OS X and Safari that fix a few unrelated security problems. Monday brought news of a Mac issue that could reveal logins and passwords, and the OS X 10.7.4 patch will be fixing that among other things. But there's also a Safari update that's a little more complicated.
Among the miscellaneous bug fixes and vulnerability patches ("stability improvements"), there's a new feature in Safari 5.1.7 that disables outdated versions of Adobe Flash. Apple and Adobe have had a rocky relationship for years, with Adobe complaining about the exclusion of Flash from iOS devices, and Apple citing Flash performance concerns. But something both companies agree on is that outdated versions of the software can be a security risk.
So henceforth, Safari simply will not run Flash if it is not up to date:
While some might see this as another move to minimize Adobe's presence on Apple products, it's really not that aggressive: when users with outdated versions of Flash open up Safari, it will prompt them to go to Adobe's site and update.
Running a check for new software on your Mac should pick up both updates, as usual.
Devin Coldewey is acontributing writer for msnbc.com. His personal website iscoldewey.cc.
