JD's Forum

This isn't for consumers, not for the general public—we'll have a final release version for them to download eventually. But the codebase for the next version is far enough along for developers worldwide to check that this new player supports your existing sites to your satisfaction.

This means you! Please check that this new release works well for you before we go live with it. Thanks!

New web players are more like new browsers—once the public starts installing new players, your existing instructions will be rendered by a different engine. This is why taking advantage of a Developer Release is so important: you want to check that everything works before your clients do!

I'm confident that you won't see unwanted changes—we test functions and sites internally, and our partners in the private beta program test sites too—but now that development is in the final stages, it's important to make sure that web creators are confident of their sites in this new renderer.

For instance, when the Macromedia Flash Player 5 was released in summer of 2000, many people found that their sites played *too* fast... they had set a high framerate which was never met in the old player, and the new player came closer to meeting their instructions. Other sites found that variables with periods or other punctuation in their names could not be evaluated.

If you do happen to notice any unwanted change at all, please follow these three steps:

1. Consider what is happening in the movie at that point. See if you can make the problem recur in a new, simpler file. This is a way to check that the core issue is accurately identified.


2. Tell the development team immediately about the discrepancy. A simple URL to the problem is better than nothing, but if you can tell us how to make a problem too then that increases the chance that we can fix it.


3. Consider changing the movie. Although we work hard for full backwards-compatibility, there are some things the player cannot fix, such as overly-restrictive version detection or faster performance. Look at the problem, and the site, and consider whether updating it could be valuable.

I've seen some issues arise on the mailing lists so far:

(Q) Wow, it's bigger, will this be the final size?
(A) Size and performance tuning are usually done towards the end of development, when the rest of the code is set. This Player will likely be larger than the previous generation, but not large enough to slow adoption.

(Q) Won't it take a year until we can use a new Player?
(A) It should be faster than that! Each version of the Macromedia Flash Player has had faster and faster adoption rates—Media Metrix found that half of all consumers tested had the Flash 5 Player within its first six months and we're aiming to increase that trend in this release.

(Q) What's that stuff in the context menu? I want details!!
(A) Sorry, this is just a Developer Release of the Player, and we haven't actually announced the next generation of the authoring tool yet. Non-Disclosure Agreements are still in effect, and we definitely enforce this. I can appreciate the excitement, but first details will be on the Macromedia site.

(Q) It isn't working in IE4.5/Mac!?
(A) Sorry, that does seem to be the case, and I don't have full details yet.

(Q) Why do you want me to do your beta testing for you!?
(A) Hey, if you're too busy to take advantage of this early Developer Release, then don't, it's your call. We just want to take every precaution that your work continues to be successful, that's all.

(Q) I went to a site and it won't let me in!
(A) Yes, some of those JavaScript version-detection routines are a little bit too strict... if you could drop a note to that site's webmaster and have them try the Developer Release themselves, then that would be great, thanks.

How is this new Developer Release working for you now? Do you see ways we can improve this early-access program for designers and developers? Drop a note in the web forum or "Macromedia Feedback" newsgroup, thanks!