Adobe and Google jointly announced in March of last year that Flash Player would soon be integrated into Google’s Chrome browser, removing the need for users to download, install, and keep it updated separately.
With a remedy for many security flaws, Google published Chrome 5.0.375.86 to the Stable channel on Linux, Mac, and Windows on Thursday evening. More significantly, the integrated Flash Player is now always on.
Built-in Flash was previously only accessible in the developer and beta versions of the quick WebKit-based browser; but, with the release to the Stable channel, the integrated plug-in is now accessible in its mainstream version, as Stephen Shankland at CNET notes.
The update comes a mere two days after Google re-enabled the integrated Flash Player plug-in by default in the Beta channel after disabling it for some time.
Not only is Google giving Adobe’s Flash technology another vote of confidence (Flash Player 10.1 for Mobile, which was announced earlier this week, will be rolled out on Android 2.2 phones first), but the integration also means any updates to Flash Player will be delivered directly via Google Chrome’s updating system, ultimately minimizing security risks that tend to surface when one uses outdated software and components.