Adobe Flash Player, the browser plug-in that brought rich animations and interactivity to the early web, has officially reached the end of its life.
Released in 1996, Flash was once one of the most popular ways for people to stream videos and play games online.
But it was plagued with security problems and failed to transition to the smartphone era.
Adobe will no longer offer security updates for Flash and has urged people to uninstall it.
It will also stop videos and animations running in its Flash Player from 12 January.
When Flash was first released, a majority of internet users connected via dial-up connections that were very slow by today's standards.
But Flash let web designers and animators deliver exciting content that could be downloaded relatively quickly.
"You could make a full three-minute animation with multiple characters, backgrounds, sounds and music less than 2 megabytes (MB) and viewable from within the browser," explained animator David Firth.
His surreal animations and characters - such as the gangly, green hunchback Salad Fingers - enjoyed viral success before the advent of social media. (Source: BBC website)
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