Flash

While "Flash" was the name of a popular superhero in the 1970s, today the term refers to
something completely different. When you see Flash on the Web, it most likely refers to
Adobe Flash, a multimedia technology. Flash allows Web developers to incorporate
animations and interactive content into their websites.

Flash was originally released by Macromedia in 1996. It began as a basic animation tool
and an optional plug-in for Web browsers. Over the next decade, Flash gained many new
features and became a standard plugin included with nearly all Web browsers. In 2005,
Adobe acquired Macromedia and took over development of the Flash technology. Today,
Flash continues to be a ubiquitous Web standard and is included with all major Web
browsers.

Because Flash animations can incorporate text and vector graphics, they typically don't
take up a lot of disk space. The contents of a Flash animation may also be compressed to
further reduce the file size. This makes it possible for Flash content to be downloaded
relatively quickly. Still, large Flash animations may still take a few seconds to load in
your browser. Therefore, when you open a Web page and see a "Loading..." animation, it
usually means Flash content is being downloaded to your computer.

To view Flash content in your Web browser, the Flash plug-in must be installed. While
Flash is automatically installed with most browsers today, some animations may require
an updated version of Flash to run. Fortunately, you can download the latest Flash plug-in
and standalone Flash Player for free from Adobe's website.

File extensions: .FLA, .SWF

NOTE: "Flash" may also refer to flash memory. Erasing a flash disk is often called
"flashing" the memory.
Macromedia
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Macromedia, Inc.

Fate Integrated into Adobe Systems, Inc.

Successor Adobe Systems, Inc.
Founded 1992
Defunct 2005
San Francisco, California
Headquarters (incorporated in Delaware)
United States
Michael Nielsen, Co-Founder
Key people
Marc Canter, Founder
Industry Computer software
Macromedia Flash
Macromedia Fireworks
Macromedia Freehand
Products
Macromedia Dreamweaver
Macromedia Director
Macromedia Authorware
Employees 1,445 (2004)

Macromedia was a North American graphics and Web development software house
headquartered in San Francisco, California producing such products as Macromedia
Flash as well as Macromedia Dreamweaver. The line of Macromedia products is now
controlled by its former rival, Adobe Systems, which acquired Macromedia on December
3, 2005.

Contents
[hide]
 • 1 History
o 1.1 Acquisitions
o 1.2 Purchase
• 2 Products
• 3 See also
• 4 External links

• 5 References

[edit] History
Macromedia was formed by the 1992 merger of Authorware Inc. (makers of Authorware)
and MacroMind-Paracomp (makers of Macromind Director).

Director, an interactive multimedia authoring tool widely used to make CD-ROMs and
information kiosks, was Macromedia's flagship product until the mid-1990s. As the CD-
ROM market began to decline and the World Wide Web gained in popularity,
Macromedia created Shockwave, a Director viewer plugin for Web browsers, but decided
it also needed to expand its market by branching out into web-native media tools.

[edit] Acquisitions

In January 1995, Macromedia acquired Altsys for its intellectual property; in particular,
FreeHand, a page layout and vector drawing program very similar to Adobe Illustrator.
FreeHand's vector graphics rendering engine and other software components within the
program would prove useful to Macromedia in the development of technologies to
support its web strategy.

To jumpstart its web strategy further, the company made two acquisitions in 1996. First,
Macromedia acquired FutureWave Software, makers of FutureSplash Animator, an
animation tool originally designed for pen-based computing devices. Because of the
small size of the FutureSplash viewer application, it was particularly suited for download
over the Web, where most users, at the time, had low-bandwidth connections.
Macromedia renamed Splash to Macromedia Flash, and following the lead of Netscape,
distributed the Flash Player as a free browser plugin in order to quickly gain market
share. As of 2005, more computers worldwide had the Flash Player installed than any
other Web media format, including Java, QuickTime, RealNetworks and Windows Media
Player[1]. As Flash matured, Macromedia's focus shifted from marketing it as a graphics
and media tool to promoting it as a Web application platform, adding scripting and data
access capabilities to the player while attempting to retain its small footprint.
Macromedia logo used until 1997

Also in 1996, Macromedia acquired iBand Software, makers of the fledgling Backstage
HTML authoring tool and application server. Macromedia developed a new HTML
authoring tool, Macromedia Dreamweaver, around portions of the Backstage codebase
and released the first version in 1997. At the time, most professional web authors
preferred to code HTML by hand using text editors because they wanted full control over
the source. Dreamweaver addressed this with its "Roundtrip HTML" feature, which
attempted to preserve the fidelity of hand-edited source code during visual edits, allowing
users to work back and forth between visual and code editing. Over the next few years
Dreamweaver became widely adopted among professional web authors, though many
still preferred to hand-code, and Microsoft FrontPage remained a strong competitor
among amateur and business users.

Macromedia continued on the M&A trail and, in December 1999, it acquired traffic
analysis software company Andromedia Corporation. Web development company Allaire
was acquired in 2001 and Macromedia added several popular server and Web
development products to its portfolio, including ColdFusion, a web application server
based on the CFML language, JRun, a J2EE application server, and HomeSite, an HTML
code editor that was also bundled with Dreamweaver.

In 2003, Macromedia acquired Web conferencing company Presedia and continued to

develop and enhance their Flash-based online collaboration and presentation product
offering under the brand Breeze. Later that year, Macromedia also acquired help
authoring software company eHelp Corporation, whose products included RoboHelp &
RoboDemo (Now Captivate). Many of the developers of RoboHelp went on to form
MadCap Software which is a competitor in the help-authoring space.

[edit] Purchase

"Formerly Macromedia" logo

On April 18, 2005, Adobe Systems announced an agreement to acquire Macromedia in a

stock swap valued at about $3.4 billion on the last trading day before the announcement.
The acquisition was consummated on December 3, 2005, and the companies' operations,
networks, and customer care organizations were integrated shortly thereafter[2].

Flash
 Example: "The Web designer used Adobe Flash to create interactive menus for his website."

Flash is a multimedia technology used for creating animations and interactive websites. Web developers often
use Flash to add dynamic content that is not possible with HTML or other scripting languages. Some examples
include splash screen animations, YouTube videos, and interactive song playlists.

In order to view Flash content in your Web browser, the Flash plug-in must be installed. Since so many websites
now incorporate Flash, the plug-in is included with nearly all Web browsers today. The standalone Flash Player is
also available as a free download from Adobe.

Flash Tutorials RSS

Flash is a household name when it comes to multimedia. Whether you're creating
standalone movies, interactive demos, or cool web components, Flash is a solid
foundation on which to base your work. Learn how to work in 3D, drawing techniques,
text effects, tips and tricks, ActionScript, and more!

• 3D(94)
• 3rd Party(52)
• Actionscripting(998)
• Animation(482)
• Audio(73)
• Backend(34)
• Drawing(73)
• Dynamic Content(63)
• Games(226)
• Getting Started(242)
• Interactivity(161)

• Math Physics(19)
• Navigation(123)
• Optimization(15)
• Projector(10)
 • Special Effects(235)
• Text Effects(149)
• Tips and Techniques(149)
• Tricks(15)
• Utilities(32)
• Video(91)

• Web Design(66)

Macromedia Flash - Definition and Overview

Macromedia Flash or Flash is a graphics animation program, written and marketed by Macromedia, that uses vector
graphics. The resulting files, called SWF (said like swiff) files, may appear in a web page to view in a web browser, or
standalone Flash players may "play" them. Flash files occur most commonly in animated advertisements on web pages and
rich-media web sites, although prank flash has become common.
In recent PostScript, SVG and PDF, Flash can be used to specify exact positioning of the various page elements. This gives
the designer a great degree of control over how the user interface looks, although it may not always be very usable on
unexpectedly high- or low-resolution displays.

• Unlike PostScript, SVG and PDF, Flash supports streaming by default (frames load individually).
• Like PostScript, SVG and PDF, Flash uses vector graphics; they may translate into small file sizes which take less
bandwidth to transmit than bitmaps do.
• Macromedia has opened the Flash file format, and compatible third-party tools exist.
• Flash Players can run consistently on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux and various other Unix systems.
• Like HTML, Flash allows the embedding of images, sounds, movies and simple HTML files. Thus it is a multimedia
platform. Flash Player 6 also supports two-way streaming of sound and video, thus making it a suitable platform for
high-level multi-user applications.
• Flash's embedded ActionScript language (an application of the ECMAScript programming language) allows the
creation of simple fill-in-the-blank forms. In Flash MX, Macromedia has extended the ActionScript language to the
proposed ECMA Script 4 standard, and programmers can use it to write extensive event-driven GUIs. Flash MX
2004 introduced ActionScript 2.0, which features strong types, interfaces, inheritance and other features of object-
oriented programming languages.
• Flash as a format has become widespread. According to Macromedia, 95% of Web users have Flash Player installed.
PDAs and cellular phones can feature integrated Flash Players, and an implementation exists for the Java platform.

Contents [hide]
1 Disadvantages

1 Competition
2 Influence
3 File types
4 Product history
5 See also
6 External links

Disadvantages

Flash also has some disadvantages, and these have caused some of the initial surge in use outside ads to decline, as negative
consequences of Flash use become apparent:

• Flash circumvents browser controls which block the display of animation on web pages, allowing ads to display
animation even when the end-user has turned off the capability in the browser.
• Flash developers must manually build support for features such as the back button and bookmarking, otherwise these
features are not available for users.
• Flash does not use browser settings for font size, etc, so text may appear tiny for vision-impaired people or those
with high resolution screens.
• Many Flash pieces re-invent common HTML and browser conventions such as scrollbars, leaving the user to figure
out how to get around; and disable features such as mouse wheels (The mouse wheel feature was added in Flash MX
2004).
• Flash content remains inaccessible to most search engines, so sites using Flash experience decreased visibility in
 search engines unless redesigned to allow for this problem. So far, at least Google (example:
[1] (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=sample+filetype:swf)) will try to read Flash
files (much like PDFs). Many people do not see difficulties in searching advertisements as a problem: the use of
Flash in ads continues unabated.
• Viewer plugins don't exist for 'all' systems: Macromedia officially supports the GNU/Linux x86, Windows, Mac OS
9/X, Solaris, HP-UX, Pocket PC, OS/2, and IRIX operating systems. Olivier Debon has written an open source
version of the Flash 3 player, ports of this exist to numerous operating systems, including the Amiga.
• Because a user agent plug-in plays Flash movies, such movies have limited memory resources available to them: the
amount of memory the user agent allocates for the plugin, which varies. This significance of this disadvantage is
reduced by the Flash player's internal memory management.
• Though Flash files have an ostensibly "open" format (i.e. it is published), Macromedia retains control of it. Since
Flash files do not depend on a truly open standard such as SVG, this reduces the incentive for non-commercial
software to support the format. The Macromedia player cannot ship as part of a pure open source, or completely free
operating system.
• Due to Flash's graphical nature, it does not degrade gracefully for disabled users. Websites can overcome this by
providing alternative content (for example in HTML) or by using the accessibility features built into newer Flash
versions. See also computer accessibility.
• Flash does not support internationalization thoroughly.
• Flash demands significant CPU power to display, as it uses a very high degree of graphic abstraction that many
video cards cannot accelerate. Particularly, the anti-aliasing utilized by the Flash Player makes heavy use of
computer resources.
• The browser plug-in may store and retrieve information on the user's computer, acting much like HTTP cookies and
with similar advantages and disadvantages; however, the player sets data size restrictions independently.
• Although this has never posed an actual problem, the plug-in has had security flaws which theoretically may open up
a computer to remote attack (see for example [2] (http://www.macromedia.com/v1/handlers/index.cfm?ID=23569)
and [3] (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/28645.html) for a December 2002 problem). Note that newer
versions of the flash player have fixed this problem.
• The .swf files that Flash generates have security issues. Several available commercial programs can allow someone
to extract graphics, sounds, etc. from a .swf file and also view its ActionScript. An open source program called
flasm (http://flasm.sourceforge.net) allows users to extract ActionScript from a .swf file as "bytecode", edit it, and
then reinsert it into the file. However, swf obfuscation makes the extraction infeasible in most cases.
• Microsoft's Internet Explorer gives a security warning which asks for permission to let a site run ActiveX controls.
The warning doesn't specify which site or which controls, so a prudent end-user must look at the source code of all
parts of the page before allowing Flash to run -- in case the site, one of the ads on it or a pop-up or pop-under also
uses a control which may breach security.

Flash MX 2004, the latest release, addresses several of the disadvantages. See this
discussion (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20001029.html) of Flash and usability.

Competition
In October 1998 Macromedia disclosed the Flash Version 3 Specification to the world on its website. It did this in response
to many new and often semi-open formats competing with SWF, such as XARA's Flare and Sharp's Extended Vector
Animation formats. Several developers quickly created a C library for producing SWF. February 1999 saw the launch of
MorphInk 99, the first non-Macromedia or third party program to create SWF files. Macromedia also hired Middlesoft to
create a freely-available developers' kit for the SWF file format versions 3 to 5. Many open and free libraries based on the
information released to the public in 1998 and from later study of the SWF file Format, such as the Ming library, exist to
produce SWF files on many platforms. Macromedia has made the Flash Files specifications for versions 6 and later
available only as a PDF under a NDA agreement.

Many shareware developers produced Flash creation tools and sold them for under $50 USD between 2000 and 2002. In
2003 competition and the emergence of free Flash creation tools, most notably OpenOffice.org, had driven many third-party
flash-creation tool-makers out of the market, allowing the remaining developers to raise their prices, although many of the
products still cost less than $100 USD and support Actionscript. F4L has started to develop such a tool including an
interface similar to Macromedia's.

Adobe wrote a package called Adobe LiveMotion, designed to create interactive animation content and export it to a variety
of formats, including SWF. LiveMotion went through two major releases before Adobe cancelled it in 2003.

In November 2003 Microsoft announced that it had started working on a competing product, Sparkle, whose release would
coincide with that of their next-generation Windows operating system codenamed Windows Longhorn. The purchase of
Creature House Inc.'s assets in September 2003 has led to speculation that their Expression graphics engine would form the
basis for the Sparkle product.

Influence
The nature and popularity of Flash has had a large influence in graphic design. Its rotoscoping feature led to the widespread
popularity of rotoscoped vector graphics in the default pastel colors of the Flash authoring tools. Many flyers,
advertisements, magazines, and even websites which didn't use Flash adopted this graphic style.

File types
• .fla (pronounced "flaw") files contain source material for the flash application. Flash authoring software can edit
FLA files and compile them into .swf files. Proprietary to Macromedia, the FLA format in no sense counts as
"open".
• .as (or sometimes .actionscript) files contain ActionScript source code in simple source files. FLA files can also
contain Actionscript code directly, but separate external .as files often emerge for structural reasons, or to expose the
code to versioning applications, and so on.
• .swf (pronounced "swiff") files are completed, published files that cannot be edited.
• .swd files are temporary debugging files used during Flash development. Once finished developing a Flash project
these files are not needed and can be removed.
• .asc files contain Server-Side ActionScript, is used to develop efficient and flexible client-server Macromedia Flash
Communication Server MX applications.
• .flv files are Flash video files, as created by Macromedia Flash or by Sorenson Squeeze.
• .swc file format for distributing components; it contains a compiled clip, the component’s ActionScript class file,
and other files that describe the component.
• .swt (pronounced "swot") files templatized SWF files used by Macromedia Generator.
• .flp XML file with the file extension .flp–for example, myProject.flp. The XML file references all the document files
contained in the Flash Project. Flash Projects allow you to group multiple, related files together to create complex
 applications.

Product history
• FutureSplash Animator (1995) - initial version of Flash with basic editing tools and a timeline
• Flash 1 (December 1996) - a Macromedia re-branded version of the FutureSplash Animator
• Flash 2 (1997) - the object library was added to Flash
• Flash 3 (1998) - the movieclip element, Javascript plug-in integration, transparency and an external stand alone
player was added to Flash
• Flash 4 (1999) - internal variables, an input field, advanced Actionscript, and streaming MP#
• Flash 5 (2000) - Javascript like Actionscript, Smartclips, HTML text formatting added
• Flash MX (2002) - UI Components, xml, compression, streaming video codec
• Flash MX 2004 (2004) - text alias, unicode, Actionscript 2, improved streaming video codec
• Flash MX 2004 Pro (2004) - all Flash MX 2004 features plus a form and slide editor, web service integration, OOP
(Oriented Object Programming) in ActionScript 2.0

See also
• Limited animation
• Shockwave
• Rich Internet Application
• Web browser-based games

External links
• Macromedia Flash (http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/)
• Macromedia Flash File Format (SWF)
Specification (http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/open/licensing/fileformat/)
• GPLFlash (http://gplflash.sourceforge.net/) Opensource Flash decoder and plugin
• Macromedia Flash Tutorials (http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Flash/1)
• Anim-FX Flash Intro and Banner Builder (http://www.Anim-FX.com/)
• Mix-FX Flash Animation Software (http://www.Mix-FX.com/)
• Amara Flash Intro and Banner Builder (http://www.amarasoftware.com/flash-intros-and-banners.htm)
• Amara Flash slideshow software (http://www.amarasoftware.com/flash-slide-show.htm)
• Amara Flash Menu Maker (http://www.amarasoftware.com/flash-menu-builder.htm)
• Amara Flash XML News Ticker (http://www.amarasoftware.com/flash-news-ticker.htm)

• Easytemplates Flash Template Kit (http://www.easytemplates.com/)

Example Usage of Macromedia
mkkov: Whoa, Macromedia/Adobe Director still exists. Lesser known than FW :D
http://www.adobe.com/products/director/
WarezRocker: Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Fireworks MX in 24 Hours http://bit.ly/67bg00

PattyEri: Ok, ya terminee con Macromedia :D Gracias @ShaVeLLi

Welcome to Macromedia Flash

Player 6
(Windows and Macintosh)
Welcome to Macromedia® Flash™ Player 6, the standard rich client for internet content
and applications. The Macromedia Flash Player ensures all Flash (SWF) content is viewable
and accessible consistently and across the broadest range of platforms, browsers, and
devices. Flash Player continues to be distributed with every major partner, including
Microsoft®, Apple, Netscape®, and AOL, to bring rich content and applications
immediately to over 414 million people worldwide.

Macromedia® Flash™ MX includes new versions of the plug-in, ActiveX control, and the
stand-alone players (projectors). To view Flash movies that incorporate Flash MX features,
replace your older versions of the plug-in or ActiveX control with the corresponding Flash
Player 6 version.

Use the stand-alone Flash Player to play movies outside a browser or ActiveX application,
or to create projectors. Use a projector when you want to distribute movies to users who do
not have Flash MX or properly configured browsers, or for distributing movies on floppy
disks or CD-ROMs. There are no distribution costs or limitations on distributing projectors
created with the stand-alone players.
Included Files: Lists the filenames and descriptions of the installers and stand-alone Flash
Player files included within the \Macromedia\Flash MX\Players folder.
The Debugger Feature: Describes the debugger feature, the difference between the debug
and release versions of Flash Player 6, the location of each version of the Flash Player, and
how to enable the ability to publish debug-enabled projectors.
Installing Macromedia Flash Player 6: Lists the instructions for installing Flash Player 6.
Removing the Macromedia Flash Player: Lists the instructions for removing an installed
version of the Flash Player.

Included Files
Macromedia Flash Player 6 Files For Windows
Macromedia Flash Player 6 Installer:
Install Flash Player 6 AX.exe - This file installs Flash Player 6 for Windows
95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP within Microsoft Internet Explorer and AOL. This player is
also known as the ActiveX control.
Install Flash Player 6.exe - This file installs Flash Player 6 for Windows
95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP within Netscape Navigator, CompuServe, and Opera. This
player is also known as the plug-in.
Stand-alone Players:
SAFlashPlayer.exe - This file is the stand-alone player (projector) for Windows
95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP users to create Windows-compatible projectors. Windows
projector files can be created inside the Flash editor application by selecting File >
Publish Settings, choosing "Windows Projector", and clicking Publish.
 SAFlashPlayer.data, SAFlashPlayer.rsrc - These files are components of the stand-
alone player (projector) for Macintosh, used by the Publish command on Windows
95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP to create Macintosh-compatible projectors. Macintosh projector
files can be created inside the Flash editor application by selecting File > Publish
Settings, choosing "Macintosh Projector", and clicking Publish.

Macromedia Flash Player 6 Files For Macintosh

Macromedia Flash Player 6 Installer:
Install Flash Player 6 - This file installs Flash Player 6 for Macintosh Power PC (OS
8.6 or later) within Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer for Macintosh, and
Opera. This player is also known as the plug-in.
Install Flash Player 6 OSX - This file installs Flash Player 6 for Macintosh OS X (OS
10.1 or later) within Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer for Macintosh,
and Opera. This player is also known as the plug-in.
Stand-alone Players:
SAFlashPlayer - This file is the stand-alone player (projector) for Macintosh Power
PC (OS 8.6 or later) and Macintosh OS X (OS 10.1 or later) users to create Macintosh-
compatible projectors. Macintosh projector files can be created inside the Flash editor
application by selecting File > Publish Settings, choosing "Macintosh Projector", and
clicking Publish.
SAFlashPlayer.exe - This file is the stand-alone player (projector) for Macintosh
Power PC (OS 8.6 or later) and Macintosh OS X (OS 10.1 or later) users to create
Windows-compatible projectors. Windows projector files can be created inside the
Flash editor application by selecting File > Publish Settings, choosing "Windows
Projector", and clicking Publish.

The Debugger Feature

Macromedia Flash MX includes an integrated debugger. To use this feature, you need to use
debug-enabled (debug) versions of the Macromedia Flash Player. The debug versions of the
Flash Player are identical to the non-debug-enabled (release) versions, except that the debug
versions contain additional code to communicate with Flash MX.

To facilitate development and debugging, the Flash MX installer installs debug versions of
the ActiveX control or plug-in your browser application directory by default. Note, however
that the versions of the Flash Player that are available for download from the Macromedia
website are the release versions; the debug versions are only available with the Flash MX
product.

\Macromedia\Flash MX\Players
 This folder, also referred to as the "parent" folder, contains the release versions of the
stand-alone Flash Player by default. Use this folder as your working folder for the stand-
alone Flash Player (i.e., overwrite the release versions of the stand-alone Flash Player
with the debug versions if you want to have the ability to publish debug-enabled
projectors).
Note: The debug, not the release, versions of the ActiveX control or plug-in are installed
in your browser application folder by default. However, the release, not the debug,
versions of the stand-alone Flash Player are installed in your parent folder by default.

\Macromedia\Flash MX\Players\Debug
This folder contains installers for the debug versions of ActiveX control and plug-in and
the debug versions of the stand-alone Flash Player. Treat this directory as original source
content. If you want to use the debug versions of the stand-alone Flash Player, copy the
stand-alone Flash Player files from this folder into your parent folder (if you do not
already have debug versions in the parent folder). If you want to use the debug-enabled
versions of the ActiveX control or plug-in, remove the currently installed version of the
ActiveX control or plug-in (if you do not already have the debug version in your
browser application directory) and execute the appropriate installer for the ActiveX
control or plug-in. *

\Macromedia\Flash MX\Players\Release
This folder contains installers for the release versions of ActiveX control and plug-in
and the release versions of the stand-alone Flash Player. Treat this directory as original
source content. If you want to use the release versions of the stand-alone Flash Player,
copy the stand-alone Flash Player files from this folder into your parent folder (if you do
not already have release versions in the parent folder). If you want to use the release
versions of the ActiveX control or plug-in, remove the currently installed version of the
ActiveX control or plug-in (if you do not already have the release version in your
browser application directory) and execute the appropriate installer for the ActiveX
control or plug-in. *

Swap the stand-alone Flash Player files in the parent folder as often as needed. Treat the
"Debug" and "Release" folders as original source content, and their parent folder as your
working stand-alone Flash Player folder.

* Note: Since the corresponding debug and release versions of the Flash Player have the
same version number, simply executing an installer for a different version of the Flash
Player without first removing the installed plug-in or ActiveX control will cause you to skip
over the installation process. You must physically remove the plug-in or ActiveX control
before executing the installer. See Removing the Macromedia Flash Player for instructions.
Installing Macromedia Flash Player 6
To install Macromedia Flash Player 6 for Internet Explorer or AOL (ActiveX Control)
on Windows:
1. Quit your browser before installing the new ActiveX control.
2. Remove any old versions of the ActiveX control. See Removing the Macromedia
Flash Player for detailed information that applies to removing both old and new
versions of the Flash Player ActiveX control.
3. Double-click the "Install Flash Player 6 AX.exe" file to begin installation.
4. Open the browser. Flash Player 6 should be installed and working.

To install Macromedia Flash Player 6 for Netscape, CompuServe, or Opera on

Windows:
1. Quit your browser before installing the new plug-in.
2. Remove any old versions of the Flash Player. See Removing the Macromedia Flash
Player for detailed information that applies to removing both old and new versions of
the plug-in.
3. Double-click the "Install Flash Player 6.exe" file to begin installation.
4. Open the browser. Flash Player 6 should be installed and working. To verify on
Netscape, choose Help > About Plug-ins from the browser's menu.

To install Macromedia Flash Player 6 for Netscape, Internet Explorer for Macintosh,
or Opera on Macintosh:
1. Quit your browser before installing the new plug-in.
2. Remove any old versions of the Flash Player. See Removing the Macromedia Flash
Player for detailed information that applies to removing both old and new versions of
the plug-in.
3. Double-click the "Flash Player 6 Installer" or the "Flash Player 6 Installer OSX" file,
as appropriate, to begin installation.
4. Open the browser. Flash Player 6 should be installed and working. To verify on
Netscape, choose Help > About Plug-ins from the browser's menu.

Removing the Macromedia Flash Player

The instructions for removing the plug-in and/or ActiveX control are posted on the Flash
Player Support website:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/ts/documents/remove_player.htm.

Thanks!
The Macromedia Flash Team

Copyright ©1993-2002, Macromedia, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Flash
Last modified: Thursday, September 26, 2002
A bandwidth friendly and browser independent vector-graphic animation technology. As
long as different browsers are equipped with the necessary plug-ins, Flash animations
will look the same.

With Flash, users can draw their own animations or import other vector-based images.

Flash was known as FutureSplash until 1997, when Macromedia Inc. bought the
company that developed it.
Adobe flash cs4 professional
Features
View features by:
Top time-savers
Top new
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Compare versions
Object-based animation new

Gain complete control over individual animation attributes with object-based animation,
which applies tweens directly to objects instead of to keyframes. Easily make changes to
motion with Bezier handles.

3D transformation new

Animate 2D objects through 3D space with exciting new 3D translation and rotation
tools, which allow you to animate along the x, y, and z axes. Apply local or global
transformation to any object.
Procedural modeling with Deco and Spray Brush new

Turn symbols into instant design tools. Apply symbols in a variety of ways: Quickly
create kaleidoscope-like effects and apply fills using the Deco tool, or randomly spray
symbols across any defined area using the Spray Brush.

Metadata (XMP) support new

Add metadata to SWF files using the new XMP panel. Quickly assign tags for enhanced
collaboration and better mobile experiences.

Authoring for Adobe AIR new

Deliver interactive experiences to the desktop with new integrated capability to publish to
the Adobe® AIR™ runtime. Reach even more audiences across more devices — web,
mobile, and now the desktop.

XFL support new

Open content from Adobe InDesign® or After Effects® software and retain file integrity.
With the cross-application XFL format, easily import content for further development in
Adobe Flash®.

Inverse kinematics with the Bones tool new

Create chain-like animation effects with a series of linked objects, or quickly distort a
single shape using the new Bones tool.
Motion editor new

Experience detailed control over keyframe parameters, including rotation, size, scale,
position, filters, and more, using the new motion editor. Refine easing control with
graphical displays similar to those in After Effects.

Motion presets new

Jump-start your project with prebuilt animations that can be applied to any object. Select
from dozens of presets or create and save your own. Share presets with others to save
animation time.

H.264 support new

Encode to any format recognized by the Adobe Flash Player runtime with Adobe Media
Encoder, the same tool found in other Adobe video products and now with support for
H.264.

Upgrade details
Check the eligibility chart for upgrade options and pricing based on the software you
currently own, or use the interactive upgrade eligibility tool to check upgrade paths for all
Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 products.
For more information, see the Creative Suite 4 policies FAQ.

• Eligibility chart
• Version comparison

Flash CS4 Flash CS3

Professional Professional
Powerful Animation
Object-based animation yes no
Auto-created motion paths yes no
Motion presets yes no
Motion editor yes no
Inverse kinematics with the Bones tool yes no
Animation conversion to ActionScript® yes yes
Animation copy and paste yes yes
Advanced design tools
3D transformation yes no
Spray Brush yes no
Deco tool yes no
Rich drawing capabilities
Advanced shape smoothing yes yes
Powerful shape drawing yes yes
Shape primitives yes yes
Pen tool yes yes
Shapes as objects yes yes
Intuitive user interface
Advanced project panel yes no
Searchable library panel yes no
New Adobe Creative Suite® interface yes no
Vertical Property inspector yes no
Customizable workspaces yes yes
ActionScript development
ActionScript 3.0 development yes yes
Advanced debugger yes yes
Script Assist yes yes
Actions panel yes yes
User interface components yes yes
Time-saving coding tools yes yes
Bitmap and filter controls
Support for Adobe Pixel Bender™ yes no
 Flash CS4 Flash CS3
Professional Professional
Filter effects yes yes
Blend modes yes yes
Bitmap caching yes yes
Advanced media integration
Adobe Media Encoder yes no
H.264 support yes no
MP3 audio support yes yes
Alpha channel support (FLV only) yes yes
Embedded cue points yes yes
Video import workflow yes yes
Skinnable video component yes yes
Advanced QuickTime export yes yes
Additional features
Metadata (XMP) support yes no
Scale 9 live rendering yes yes
Extensible architecture yes yes
Adobe software integration
XFL support yes no
Collaboration with Adobe Flex®
yes no
developers
Adobe Soundbooth® ASND file support yes no
PSD, AI, and PNG file import yes yes
Common Adobe Creative Suite features
ConnectNow yes no
Adobe Kuler™ panel yes no
Adobe Device Central yes yes
Adobe Bridge yes yes
Delivery for a wide reach
Authoring for Adobe AIR yes no
Adobe Flash® Lite™ support for mobile
yes yes
delivery
Delivery for the most recent version of
yes yes
Adobe Flash Player
System requirements
Windows

• 1GHz or faster processor

• Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended)
or Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with
Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit Windows XP and Windows Vista)
• 1GB of RAM
• 3.5GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required
during installation (cannot install on flash-based storage devices)
• 1,024x768 display (1,280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
• DVD-ROM drive
• QuickTime 7.1.2 software required for multimedia features
• Broadband Internet connection required for online services*

Windows 7 compatibility

Mac OS

• PowerPC® G5 or multicore Intel® processor

• Mac OS X v10.4.11–10.5.4
• 1GB of RAM
• 4GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required
during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file
system or on flash-based storage devices)
• 1,024x768 display (1,280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
• DVD-ROM drive
• QuickTime 7.1.2 software required for multimedia features
• Broadband Internet connection required for online services*

Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 compatibility