I have gone a long time without using Adobe Flash, because I have tried to extend the battery life of my MacBook while I am on campus for the day (see the links at the bottom of this post for my writings on Flash). In the past, Flash is notorious for draining laptop batteries, because its inefficient use of modern CPUs requires more power for more CPU use.
To the end of longer battery life, I have removed or disabled many elements of MacOS X and other software that inhabits the background of my laptop’s local ecosystem so that less processes are running at any given time. Furthermore, I have tried to nuke those apps that devour CPU time like Adobe Flash. Unfortunately, nixing Flash meant that I was cutting myself off from useful and informative video materials that I would like to view during my research. As a result, I have reinstalled Flash, and I have opted for the 10.2 release, which can be downloaded from here.
Apparently, Flash 10.2 uses less CPU time for better video playback results according to 9-to-5mac.com here. If this is true, perhaps Flash has slightly improved to use less CPU time and hence less power and longer battery life. I will test it out in my everyday use and report back what I find in a future post.
My experiences with Flash include from the oldest to the newest:
Early 2008 MacBook, CPU Load, Loud Fans, and Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash Will Really Deplete Your Battery
Dynamic Subspace 