Who's going to get Flash MX?

[kirupa]

I know this is a redundant question, but who all is going to jump the Flash MX bandwagon when it comes out?

Cheers,
Kirupa

[zammarz]

Flash MX?......I read a hefty review at www.flashkit.com/reviews/flashmx/ (http://www.flashkit.com/reviews/flashmx/)
It looks interesting, and has a few more features. I just got Flash5 a few weeks ago, and I feel I'm just starting to scratch the surface and make some progress, thanks to you helpful peeps and the fine tuts here. To answer the question, I think I'm going to wait till I get more comfortable with Flash5, download the trial and have a peek at it. I'm 50/50 on it now.

[ilyaslamasse]

That's a bit of a poblem, isn't it ? I started flashing 3 months ago, i just got usd to it, and now I have to change it... And what about books ? I was thinking about getting the Math Flash book by FOE, and now, I don't know any more... Dur dur.

pom 0]

[I am not Jubba]

I'm going to wait and see what everyone else here thinks about it when they get it. But I'll probably end up getting a copy.

[okjosss]

get out of here....flash 5...... JA JA JA......
i take the tour of flash mx...and... I SAI GET out of here..."...
je je je



salud!

JOSS

[upuaut8]

I'm thinking that Flash 6 will be able to do anything that Flash MX can, so I'll probebly just stick with that program when it comes out.. however, if enough of you seem to think that it has features that just can't be done in 6.0, then I'll concider it. Either way I'll go for the free download 30 day trial once it's out.

[ilyaslamasse]

Flash 6 ??
pom 0]

[upuaut8]

yes... Flash 6.0 is still due to be released or am I insane because all my capaciters have blown?

[kirupa]

Is Flash MX not Flash 6.0? I don't really know. I was under the impression that Flash MX is Flash 6.

[upuaut8]

hmmm.. now that's a thought that I had not had before. It's quite possible that my brain went when my motherboard blew. I'll go to Macromedia and see if I can discover the answer to that question.

[gingerhippy69]

I will no doubt give the demo a try...but i will have to get a few more projects before i can afford it... ;]

Cheerio,
Ben...

[upuaut8]

Well, the upgrade is listed at 149.. that's not that bad at all, as far as those kind of things go. If it is Flash6.0, then I will definitely be buying it at that price. As it is, because I have a tax id number, I can write it off on my taxes anyway, so there is little reason why I wouldn't upgrade.

[johnrichardandrew]

:( This suckz. I just get one therefore blowing all of my spare cash (I am 15) and now I have to get another.

Why oh why does the technical world hate me???

Can't Macromedia release a freebie thing with less features for the students among us???

Well I'm off to wallow in the self pitty of having no cash.

John

[upuaut8]

Keep an eye out on Ebay. I just saw multiple sale copies of Flash 5.0 both the academic version, and the regular retail version. If you don't mind not registering it, you'll find some really really nice prices. I think that there was one there for 28 bucks.

I have no doubt that FlashMX will be on ebay quickly after it's release. You might have to wait a month, but I doubt much longer than that.

[eyezberg]

I will definitely buy MX asap, even if i don't like the new name. Why? well, here's just a few lines of Pope de Flash review on Flashkit:

"..And now for what I think is the most significant addition to the FMX new features: first is the ability to load both .jpgs and .mp3 sound files dynamically WITHOUT using generator. This is huge in the area of being able to make apps that have skins and the ability to now send sound at broadcast quality over the web and dynamically change a play list on the fly. The other is the ability to import video natively into Flash.."

Besides all the other new features, just these 3 points are so cool, i can't wait to get it! Upgrade your players now, the web enters a new age!

[kirupa]

I think Flash MX is Flash 6. I noticed a post on Wildform.com with the text Flash MX (Flash 6); so I can assume that Flash MX is Flash 6.

[aussie flash]

For those that are interested - I have been testing Flash MX for 2 weeks now. (And yes flash Mx is the new name for flash 6.....MX is a whole new series of apps are comming out that will communicate easily between each other ie: Dreamweaver MX (New ultradev) Coldfusion MX ..etc, etc)...

The new features / new look / enhanced actionscript and modular design of things like ui components, are all a big step forward in my humble opinion....I cannot wait for the other MX apps to be released! The complete web applications we are going to be able to build with this release will be phenominal......

Quite a few things are different in this release and the whole asctionscript interface is very different with a lot of old methods and actions now depreciated. Anyone thinking of buying books on flash 5 should wait for new books to come out on Flash mx as you will need to unlearn quite a few things......

Start saving your pennies.......the year ahead is going to be fun!

[aussie flash]

some of you in previous posts were wondering about making the upgrade to Flash MX or buying flash 5 books or just waiting a while. My suggestions is to wait till march 15 - get the trial download of mx from the macromedia site and see for yourself...

In my mind, to spend hard earned cash on a flash 5 or actionscript book now would be a bad idea. Flash Mx is going to be more expensive than previous releases as well.....But thats the price of progress. We always seem to be buying new hardware / software / books .......and having to spend large amounts of time learning how to use them. That's I.T for you! Que Sera Sera...........

It sucks - yes...........But I wouldn't go back to my Intel 286 with 16mb of ram, windows 3.1 and programming solely with html.... (Arghhhh). We have come a long way and change is good!

[eyezberg]

Hi Down Under (as your pseudo suggests),
as you seem pretty well informed about new Macromedia products, any idea when they plan to release Dream/fireworks 5/MX ?
I just had an idea..make Flash have a sendTo button that works like Photoshop/Image Ready, so you open Dream directly from within Flash to edit the html..
How come you can test Flash MX and we can't? Not fair!!
As for the books, i just bought 2 of'em..can still continue using Flash 5 untill users upgrade their players..but if nobody produces flash 6, nobody will (need to) upgrade their players..which came first, the chicken or the egg?..

[johnrichardandrew]

You know on the Macromedia website how if you right-click the swf it gives you only 1 option on the menu (About Macromedia Flash Player 5...), what about the possibility of a plugin or a 3rd party that does a drag and drop interface to do that to your files. I wish I knew how to do it.

--
any incorrect spellings are purely intentional- or just me being a raubbish typer.

[aussie flash]

Hi eyezberg......all macromedia is saying at the moment is that dreamweaver mx / fireworks mx / coldfusion mx/ and the new mx server applications will be released "later in the year". I am not aware of any dates yet. There is a lot of beta testing of these products happening, so hopefully we wont have to wait too long! I am sure for publicity and marketing reasons, that they will stagger the releases a few months apart.

As far as people downloading the new plugin is concerned, I personally think it will happen pretty quickly. You can still nominate to publish files in flash 4 or 5 format and you will be prompted if there are any incompatabilities with your code. But new enhancements in the publishing of flash MX.swf files and the new flash player actually compress the files more and make them faster to load and play smoother.

The general public are pretty savy now when it comes to technology. The new flash player is only a small download and with intelligent programming and presentation of links to the download itself, we as designers and developers can assist in the uptake of it.

Apparently macromedia say that MX doesn't stand for anything. I say they need new marketing people.....lol.

ciao. (I mean cya mate!...........)

[eyezberg]

Anche ciao va bene per me..
And i just got the trial version (don't ask me where from..); it really looks good, but there are tons of new scripts available, waow, this will take some time and effort to on (install) {update(this.knowledge)}! Guess I'll order the boxed version so as to at least have the manuals..
Thanks for the fast answer..are you Down Under, or just a nick?

[aussie flash]

I am down under - in sunny Queensland (beautiful one day, perfect the next)!

I am sure you will enjoy the trial now that you have it. If you buy and register the full product - you apprently can get some bonus stuff (developers kit and templates and extra tutorial stuff etc, etc)......God, I sound like a macromedia salesman..DOH!....................
Flash Mx is one hot program though. Hope we see some of your creations on the net soon.

[kirupa]

I can't wait to write a lot of tutorials for Flash MX. I've postponed many of my Flash 5 tutorials for the release of Flash MX so I don't have to make the content cross-version compatible (a time-consuming process).

[mwab]

ME!

Nick the Freshman

[ilyaslamasse]

So if I get what you mean, Aussie, I must NOT buy a book about Actionscript right now ?

pom 0]

[eyezberg]

Exactement, pomme!
I just got (glad it was a gift!) Phillip Kermans excellent Action Script book, send a mail to the author and had a look at his site, and he's already publishing Sams Teach yourself Flash MX in 24 hrs, and the update for my book is being written too!
So just wait a frame, in a month or so new books should start to hit the shelves!

[Syko171]

That FMX is so hard cool. It reminds me a bit Dreamweaver ( the new attributes - and components panel)
I can't wait to get it...
I love it. Especially that I can make an mc a mask and the components. A few weeks ago I wondered how to make a scrollbar.
Flash MX -> components -> scrollbar
vóila!
i can't wait til I get that thing...

[ilyaslamasse]

So much for the drag mask tutorial...
pom 0]

[kirupa]

LOL pom, don't worry, I'm sure enough of the information will stay the same, so people can actually use the Flash 5 tutorial for MX.

[upuaut8]

There will be a lot of people who simply cannot afford the MX version.. our tutorials and hard work will not be for naught.

[mdkuser]

For me, I'm interested in Flash MX's new accessibility features. It'll make it easier to write Flash apps for people with disabilities by exposing Flash elements to screen readers, mouse/keyboard alternatives and so on.

I also am interested in its new streaming playback features--it looks like it can be the new (near-) universal media playback plug-in.

Development-wise, I think its new object/event model looks interesting, and if nothing else, the enhancements in working with the timeline would save lots of time and work. Maybe I won't need Ctrl+Z so much anymore.

[ilyaslamasse]

Nobody seems to be talking about Adobe Livemotion 2 anymore... Strange.

pom 0]

[darkdan]

So basically your saying that if we download the new player we won't be able to view flash5 sites at all? If that's the case, that's pretty stupid. I mean we can view Flash 3,4 sites. Hopefully I'm wrong and replies will be posted on my ignorance...please....amaze me with my stupidity.
-dan

[upuaut8]

Nope, that's incorrect.. I have the MX viewer on one machine already, and it has no problem viewing flash 3 4 and 5 movies.

[kirupa]

Hey Pom,
I never really got big onto LiveMotion 2. Unlike Macromedia who often sends me e-mails informing me of updates and such, Adobe never did that. I guess they don't want people knowing about their product.

Cheers!
Kirupa

[upuaut8]

Photoshop still rocks all other programs of it's kind though. :)