Adobe fends off rivals with Flash Player 10

Flash Player 10 was code-named Astro.

(Credit: Adobe Systems)

Astro is launched.

On Wednesday, Adobe Systems announced the release of a major update to its Flash technology to endow Web sites with better video, audio, and graphics. The new version 10 was code-named Astro, and it arrived just days after Microsoft released version 2.0 of its rival Silverlight software.

Flash Player 10, a free download also available for Windows and Mac users from Download.com, includes a number of new features:

• Easier-to-use 3D graphics effects.

• Better text handling for more sophisticated layouts combining words and graphics, more refined typography, and better multilingual applications.

• Better sound handling, so that different audio signals can be mixed together--for example, a music sound track with a game's audio effects.

• High-performance visual effects using technology called Pixel Bender that also works with After Effects CS4 and Photoshop CS4.

• Better abilities to tap into hardware acceleration.

• Adaptable video streaming that can adjust to changing network throughput.

Flash Player is a key part of Adobe's push to make Web-based applications more powerful. Adobe's Flex framework can be used to create applications that run on the Flash Player or as standalone computer applications running on AIR, the Adobe Integrated Runtime.

Flash and Silverlight aren't the only ways to make these so-called rich Internet applications, though. Silverlight, which drafts off Microsoft's strong developer base and its .Net programming technology, is a newer competitor. And JavaScript is growing up as a way to build more elaborate interfaces in Web applications. Flash, however, enjoys a very broad adoption, and users upgrade to the newer versions relatively swiftly.

Flash Player 10 also is used within Adobe's Creative Suite 4, a broad range of applications including Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Premiere that just began shipping. Because control panels are written with Flash technology, CS4 menus can be extended by third parties more easily, and Adobe plans to release a Configurator by the end of the month that will make it easy to create custom control panels.

Update 11:25 a.m. PDT: One big Pixel Bender fan is online photo editing site Picnik. Flash Player 10 speeds the site and enables "mind-blowing effects." It also means third parties can create effects of their own using the Pixel Bender technology. See some examples below.

"Future plans with Flash Player 10 include the addition of super high‐resolution photo capabilities, more sophisticated editing features, and the ability to load and save photos without involving an upload to a server," Picnik said Wednesday.

One special effect enabled by Flash Player 10 on Picnik's online photo editing site.

(Credit: Picnik)

Another Flash Player 10 effect in Picnik.

(Credit: Picnik)

[qtnetmexico]

Guys, your facebook share feature does not work very well compared to the way I use the share icon on the Firefox bar

[citizencontact]

Well, it is a shame that Adobe can't help browsers do this with HTML/XHTML and open standards like SVG. Splitting sites into HTML and anti-HTML ones, slows down the development of good standards and better sites overall. Adobe has fantastic tools, but is too focused on beating HTML by competing against the common formats with their own. Fortunately, the recent activity to improve web browsers and better incorporate the CSS2 and 3 standards will help to hold off the efforts to push people to proprietary and less open standards. Keep watching the advances of Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Internet Explorer and better Javascript engines and perhaps the tools will follow.

[Lerianis]

What in the world are you talking about? The fact is that Adobe Flash is meant to work ALONGSiDE HTML, not replacing it! The fact is that standards are for fools, except for HTML and CSS standards. Those are two standards that should be required to be followed, and actually they are required to be followed.
Look at the fallout when Firefox 3 didn't pass the ACID3 tests.

[slaingod]

I think sadly you actually just pointed out WHY Adobe does it on its own and will always be a few steps ahead of the standards. Think about it, you have 4 different standards committees (CSS, HTML, SVG, Javascript) and 5+ browsers to worry about to be 'standards compliant', plus any number of 'javascript frameworks' like Django, Prototype, and jQuery. Adobe Flex/Flash on the other hand are all centrally design by one organization, with a common focus (no Microsoft on the committee trying to scuttle the efforts). I'm not saying it is better or worse that this is the case, just that it is a compelling explanation for why people use Flex/Flash to create websites in many cases, especially sites that have a 'time to live' and correspondingly short 'time to launch'. It is just plan easier/faster by a factor of 4 or more for me to release some of the sites I work on with Flex/Flash. Plus many of the sites I work on already require Flash for things like Webcam support, bitmap manipulation (applying filters to bitmaps, or doing Piknik type things).

[sderf]

When are they going to make it work in 64 bit. Whats the hold up Adobe??????

[rutabagaman]

I second that! It is pretty sad that Adobe has spent all this time working on making Flash an application platform of the future, but there still isn't any 64-bit support on any O/S. The fact that their recommendation is for users to run a 32-bit browser on a 64-bit O/S borders on pathetic: http://www.adobe.com/go/6b3af6c9

C'mon Adobe, this is 2008. Get it together.

[Lerianis]

It is very hard to get something for 32-bit to work on a 64-bit browser. And the fact is: Firefox - 32bit, Chrome - 32bit, IE in any version except 64-bit Vista and XP - 32-bit. It is NOT pathetic to expect people to use the dominant browser technology even on a 64-bit system.

Now, that said, I do think everything should be migrating to 64-bit libraries.... it just makes EVERYTHING faster, judging by my families new 64-bit Gateway P7811FX.

[rutabagaman]

Dude, I'm using a 64-bit Firefox browser right now--and it's v1.5!

I think it's reasonable to assume that 64-bit O/S users would use and prefer a 64-bit browser. Admittedly those users are currently in the minority, but they will inevitably become the majority over time. Adobe needs to get on top of this by having a native 64-bit version of the player instead of dragging their feet.

[Lerianis]

As I said, Adobe is not really dragging their feet. It is very hard to learn how to code for a 64-bit system. Heck, it was hard move from 8-bit to 16-bit to 32-bit..... took YEARS to do that.
I'm not really getting on your case, but since 64-bit system are only becoming the dominant system this year..... you can't really expect Adobe to drop everything and go 64-bit only, which is the only way they would be able to get a plugin out for a 64-bit browser in less than a year.

That is the main reason why games like Crysis, Dead Space, etc. are all 32-bit: it takes a lot of knowhow that companies don't have yet to get something to work well natively in a 64-bit system running as 64-bit itself.

[mc-darbe]

thanl you so mach

[TV James]

You know, I consider myself a bit of a Microsoft fanboy and even I'm saying, "I'm sorry, Silverwhat? Never heard of it."

Sometimes it's better to design a new car instead of trying to build your own competing interstate highway system. Silverlight seems like a fruitless distraction for a company that has good potential but is trying to juggle way too much and results in too many not-ready-for-primetime efforts.

[dhavleak]

@ TV James:

You aren't a very convincing MS fanboy :) because if you were (or even if you were an impartial observer) you would have given Silverlight a try by now -- and realized how completely superior it is to Flash.

Here's a simple summary of it's advantages:
- It's super-lightweight (I cannot stress this enough).
- It's a lot more secure than Flash
- It's *extremely* easy to develop for -- there's simply no comparison between WPF and Actionscript.
- You can use whatever language you want -- you're not limited to a Javascript variant (Actionsctipt).
- Unlike Adobe, MS is actually collaborating with the Linux folks to create Moonlight (Silverlight implementation on Linux) -- so you won't have to wait years for updated/semi-functional Linux plugins like you do with Flash.
- Silverlight plugins are already available for IE, Safari, Firefox/Mozilla, and coming to Windows Mobile, Symbian, etc.

Silverlight is ready for primetime and then some. It's vastly superior to any competing technology out there.

[alenas]

Hmm, Silverlight has much better development environment than Flash. And people do not understand that Silverlight was not made to compete with Flash - it is possible to use it in a very broad context (not just for spamming ads...).

[Lerianis]

I wouldn't call it more secure than Flash, dhavleak. I would call it about as secure as Flash 10, to be totally honest. The only reason it hasn't been 'exploited' like Flash has..... it's still not in many computers thus far.

[techman21]

We won't know how secure it is until sometime down the road...

[Lerianis]

Hah.... that is quite true. Flash 10 might be fulla holes, but they just haven't been found yet. I've noticed that Flash 10 has sped up some websites I use for some reason that I cannot figure out thus far.

[dothanhcuong]

thankyou! i am happy

[veegeezy]

Giggidy

[VeggieDelux]

Doesn't work with yahoo chat on Safari, just upgraded to 10 and now yahoo tells me my flash player is incompatible!

[slaingod]

This isn't a 'Flash' issue, it is the Flash javascript library being used for detection/embedding not working, like SWFObject or whatever, not under Flash's control. Embedding is used primarily to get around the EOLAS lawsuit issues for plugins.

[yacahuma]

The only flash interesting stuff is flash video. The restis pure junk. I dont visit flash based sites. They are slow and annoying.