Browser plug-ins are on their way out. Microsoft Edge doesn’t support ActiveX plug-ins, although it does have built-in Flash support. Google Chrome has also discontinued support for the NPAPI plug-in format used by Java, Silverlight, Unity, and other plug-ins.
Most web users can get away without these plug-ins. But some sites may still require the Java web plug-in, Silverlight, Unity, or something similar — especially old business applications.
Use Internet Explorer Instead of Microsoft Edge
You can’t use plug-ins in Microsoft’s Edge browser. It only supports Flash and offers no way to install a type of browser plug-in. Even if Oracle wanted to create a Java plug-in for Microsoft Edge, they couldn’t.
Instead, Windows 10 still includes the old version of Internet Explorer 11 for compatibility purposes. Internet Explorer 11 is still compatible with ActiveX plug-ins. You’ll find IE under All Apps in the Start menu — select All Apps, scroll down to Windows Accessories, and click Internet Explorer under the accessories folder. Or, just perform a search for Internet Explorer in the Start menu and launch it. You can also tap the menu button in Microsoft Edge and select “Open with Internet Explorer” to open the current web page in Internet Explorer.
You probably won’t want to use Internet Explorer as your browser all of the time, but you can launch it whenever you need to use a website that requires a plug-in. To install these plug-ins, just launch IE and visit the appropriate website — Oracle’s Java site or Microsoft’s Silverlight site, for example.
Any other browser that uses Microsoft’s old Trident rendering engine — the one still used in Internet Explorer — should also work.
If you have to access an old web page that doesn’t work with Internet Explorer 11 and requires an older version of Internet Explorer, you can use Internet Explorer 11’s Enterprise Mode. This requires the Professional version of Windows 10, not the Home version.
Install Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is still compatible with NPAPI plug-ins — the plug-in format created for Netscape Navigator all those years ago.
Install Firefox and you’ll be able to use all the browser plug-ins you want, from Oracle’s Java web plug-in to Microsoft’s own Silverlight plug-in to the Unity Web Player plug-in.
Mozilla Firefox prevents plug-ins like Java and Silverlight from automatically running, requiring you click-to-play these plug-ins when you encounter them on the web. Install Firefox and use it to access websites that require plug-ins. This may be a better option than Internet Explorer — after all, Firefox is still a modern browser that’s being regularly updated. It also blocks plug-ins from running except when you specifically allow them.
Any other browser that uses Mozilla’s Gecko rendering engine — the same one used in Firefox — should also work. This includes the SeaMonkey browser based on the old Mozilla suite and Firefox offshoots like Pale Moon.
No, Google Chrome Isn’t an Option
Google recently disabled support for older NPAPI plug-ins in Google Chrome, so you won’t be able to run Java, Silverlight, and other plug-in content in Google Chrome on any version of Windows — whether it’s Windows 10, 8, or 7.
Google encourages developers to port their plugins to the modern PPAPI (Pepper API) plug-in system if they really need to continue using plug-ins. Unlike NPAPI, PPAPI is sandboxed for security. However, only Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers — like the open-source Chromium itself and the latest versions of Opera — support PPAPI. While Chrome comes with a built-in PPAPI version of Flash, no other developers have announced plans to support it. Oracle’s official documentation recommends FIrefox or Internet Explorer if you need the Java plug-in.
Google added a hidden settings flag named “Enable NPAPI” that allows you to re-enable NPAPI plug-ins temporarily, but this option will be removed entirely with Chrome 45 in September 2015.
Of course, the real solution is moving on from web content that requires plug-ins. Applications created with Java, SIlverlight, and Unity still function properly outside of the web browser. Desktop applications written in Java or Silverlight are safe and will work normally.
For delivering video to web browsers, Microsoft now recommends HTML5 video instead of their own Silverlight plug-in. Netflix was the most famous user of Silverlight, and recently dropped Silverlight for cross-platform HTML5 video.
Flash is still widespread, and is integrated by default into modern browsers like Chrome and Microsoft Edge for that reason. This helps keep Flash sandboxed and updated.