Apple is not pre-installing Flash Player on the new MacBook Air, the first time it has deliberately excluded the Adobe software.
Apple said it prefers to leave it to users to install the web browser plugin themselves, thereby ensuring that they get the latest version. Adobe has criticised Apple in the past for not distributing the most recent Flash Player, though its own record isn’t perfect.
Adobe and Apple have been engaged in a long-running spat over the latter’s decision not to support Flash on any of it’s iOS devices. That won’t be an option in OS X, which Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has said will remain open to any software developer.
While they will ship Flash-free, both new MacBook Air models only come with flash memory for storage and, in the absence of any optical drive, with a USB flash drive for reinstalling OS X if required.
