Adobe's latest version of the Flash Player browser plug-in is just as trouble-free as previous versions, existing unobtrusively in your system until Web-based animations, games, or ubiquitous Flash ads require its services. The latest version, with its tiny size, downloads and installs quickly. Our tests turned up nothing to make us scratch our heads. In one odd occurrence, at one site viewed with Internet Explorer we were prompted to install Flash Player 9 before viewing a video file--even though we had already done so and used it at other sites with no difficulty. We experienced no similar oddities while using Firefox.
You need a Flash Player to experience the Web at its fullest, so users at any level of expertise should have no qualms about installing or upgrading to Flash Player 9.