The team behind the open source Office suite LibreOffice is working on the next major version of the application, LibreOffice 7.0, currently.

Current versions of LibreOffice support Adobe Flash, more precisely the .SWF file format as users may export presentations and drawings to the format. These can then be embedded on sites but it is also possible to play SWF files on the desktop directly.

The preliminary release notes of LibreOffice 7.0 reveal now that support for Adobe Flash will be dropped in the upcoming version of the Office suite.

Filters Macromedia Flash export filter was removed as Flash player will be end-of-life by the end of 2020 core commit 63e43c1db9d0d5c52916dc6d2d7cd1d3d9bcae76

Adobe will end support for Flash at the end of 2020; all major browser makers have announced that they will drop support for Adobe Flash before the end of 2020. It is only natural that other projects with support for Flash or Flash formats will drop support in 2020.

Google made Flash usage more annoying in Chrome 76 already; the browser uses a built-in version of Adobe Flash while Firefox relies on the older NPAPI plugin architecture and installation of Flash on the operating system. Projects like the Flash Game Preservation project try to save Flash content before support ends officially as numerous Flash games and applications cannot be loaded anymore in browsers when support is removed officially.

The change in LibreOffice affects the program's exporting functionality. Presentations and drawings can be exported to the Adobe SWF format in LibreOffice. The option to export drawings or presentations as SWF files is removed in LibreOffice 7.0.

LibreOffice plans to release version 7.0 of the Office suite in August 2020. The new version ships with improved Docx import and exporting. Current versions of LibreOffice use the Office 2007 compatibility mode for Docx files; LibreOffice 7.0 will use the native Office 2013, 2016, 2019 mode instead.

Now You: Do you use Adobe Flash / SWF files anywhere? (via Born)

Summary Article Name LibreOffice 7.0 drops Adobe Flash support Description The next major version of the Office suite LibreOffice, LibreOffice 7.0, will drop support for Adobe Flash swf file exports. Author Martin Brinkmann Publisher Ghacks Technology News Logo

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