The death of Flash continues to move forward, and now Microsoft is taking its swing at the aging internet standard. The next release of Microsoft Edge will now default to HTML5 content if available, while Flash will be blocked by default. Users will instead be presented an option as to whether or not they'd like the plug-in to load.

Flash will be blocked by default

In order to make things easier for users, Microsoft will be allowing the most popular sites that use Flash to be excepted from the block automatically, but has not yet commented as to which sites will be included. The company also plans to shrink that list over time, until users have complete control over whether or not to use Flash.

The update is scheduled to roll out to Windows Insiders preview builds soon, with Microsoft aiming to have the feature in a stable form for the release of the Windows 10 Creator’s Update in early 2017.

The move comes as another not-unexpected blow to Adobe Flash, following last week's news that Google Chrome will also be blocking Flash by default and earlier announcements from Apple and Mozilla of plans to move their browsers away from Flash as well. Heck, even Adobe has basically given up on Flash. And with Edge on board, all four of the most used browsers now have announced plans to leave Flash behind, which should hopefully lead to a faster and more secure browsing experience, no matter what your browser of choice.