Hi,

Well, I had expected Macromedia to come up with several improvements over the previous versions of Flash and my reactions to their latest edition are mixed. Let's look at some of the pros first:

1. Fantastic interface, which is very flexible and quite easy to use if you are familiar with Flash MX.

2. Support for various video formats.

3. Integration possible with non-Flash stuff like Web Services, Java, etc.

4. Quite a few nice components added (but... refer to cons below)

5.ActionScript 2 improves upon the abilities of ActionScript 1 (but... refer to cons below)

6. If you are a programmer and you are thinking of how to use more Flash in your applications, then Flash MX 2004 Professional should be a blessing for you.

And now the cons:

1. Flash MX 2004 is a resources hogger of the highest order. You need a really hi-tech box to run it along with other applications. This would probably be one of the biggest disappointments. Performance of the tool has been greatly reduced.

2. While AS 2 may be able to do things AS 1 couldn't, the flip side of the story is that due to changes in the syntax of AS2, that is, all lower case, it does not allow you to use AS1 code in Flash MX 2004.

3. Also, the NORMAL option in the AS editor has been removed, which will cause some trouble to those who are not familiar with scripting syntax.

4. Documentation is as PATHETIC as it could possibly be. There is negligible help for the components. The usage guidelines are useless if you are new to Flash. This is one area where Macromedia really needs to pull up its socks.

5. Virtually unchanged built-in libraries. The same set of buttons and other stuff. As useless as ever I guess!

In a nutshell, this is one upgrade I wouldn't recommend if you are not into programming. For the usual designer, you would find it more worthwhile to stick to Flash MX and not Flash MX 2004.

Regards,

Ani.