Mark Anders' Blog: Flash Player 9 Announced!

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April 21, 2006

Flash Player 9 Announced!

Emmy Huang announced on her blog that we've renamed what had previously been called Flash Player 8.5 to Flash Player 9. She also posted a FAQ that you can read here. You'll be able to get you hands on this new version with the upcoming Flex 2.0 Beta 3 release, which we're in the process of finishing up.

I'm really excited about this change, because I think it more accurately reflects the magnitude of the release. With Flash Player 9, you have a new VM that offers tremendous performance gains, scalability and reliability. You have a vastly updated language with incredible new features that is much more robust and more similar to C# or Java than what most people think of when they think of JavaScript. An finally, to go with ActionScript 3, you have a new set of API that have huge benefits for developers, whether you're using the Flex Framework or not!

Sometimes companies put out what could be minor releases, feature wise, but give them major version numbers. Labeling this upcoming version as a "dot" release really downplays the innovation being provided. So, if you haven't checked out Flash Player 8.5, check out Flash Player 9, which will be available on Adobe Labs shortly!

Posted by Mark Anders at April 21, 2006 09:52 AM

Comments

Awesome!

Posted by: Chris Charlton at April 21, 2006 10:23 AM

Great news Mark

Posted by: William from Lagos at April 21, 2006 03:33 PM

I've been very impressed with the work so far. There could be a Linux version and the compiler could be a bit faster, but I'm impressed nonetheless.

Posted by: Andy at April 28, 2006 07:20 PM

Thanks! We've been working hard on compiler performance and will continue to do so. We are also working on the Linux version and want to get it out there asap, though I don't have any dates, yet.

Posted by: Mark Anders at April 29, 2006 10:07 PM