Adobe Flash Player
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| Flash Player | |
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| Developer: | Adobe Systems |
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| Latest release: | 9.0.28.0 / November 14, 2006 |
| OS: | Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Solaris, Windows CE/Pocket PC |
| Platform: | Web browsers |
| Use: | Media Player |
| Website: | http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/ |
The Adobe Flash Player is a widely distributed multimedia and application player created and distributed by Macromedia (a division of Adobe Systems). Flash Player runs SWF files that can be created by the Adobe Flash authoring tool, Adobe Flex or a number of other Macromedia and third party tools.
Adobe Flash, or simply Flash, refers to both a multimedia authoring program and the Adobe Flash Player, written and distributed by Adobe, that uses vector and raster graphics, a native scripting language called ActionScript and bidirectional streaming of video and audio. Strictly speaking, Adobe Flash is the authoring environment and Flash Player is the virtual machine used to run the Flash files, but in colloquial language these have become mixed: "Flash" can mean either the authoring environment, the player, or the application files.
Flash Player has support for an embedded scripting language called ActionScript (AS), which is based on ECMAScript. ActionScript has evolved in flexibility and complexity since its inception and may now be compared in capability to JavaScript (another ECMA-based scripting language). ActionScript matured from a script without variables to one that supports object-oriented code.
The Flash Player was originally designed to display 2-dimensional vector animation, but has since become suitable for creating rich Internet applications and streaming video and audio. It uses vector graphics to minimize file size and create files that save bandwidth and loading time. Flash is a common format for games, animations, and GUIs embedded into web pages.
The Flash Player is shipped with some browsers and is available for modern browsers (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Opera, and Mozilla Firefox) as a plugin. Each new version of the plugin is completely backwards-compatible.
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[edit] Supported platforms
The latest version of Flash Player, Version 9, is available for Windows and Mac OS X. Version 7 is the most recent official version currently available for Linux(x86) and Solaris,[1] although a public Beta player for Linux was released on October 18, 2006 and is available at the Adobe labs website. Adobe has said that the final Flash Player 9 for Linux is expected in early 2007.[2] Other versions of the player have been available at some point for HP-UX, Pocket PC, OS/2, Symbian OS, Palm OS, BeOS and IRIX.[citation needed] The Kodak Easyshare One includes Flash Player. The Flash Player SDK was used to develop its on-screen menus, which are rendered and displayed using the included Flash Player.[3] Among other devices, LeapFrog Enterprises provides Flash Player with their Leapster Multimedia Learning System and extended the Flash Player with touch-screen support.[4] Sony has recently integrated Flash Player 6 into the Playstation Portable's web browser via firmware version 2.70.
[edit] History
[edit] Player versions
- Macromedia Flash Player 2
- First version under Macromedia brand
- Mostly vectors and motion, some bitmaps, limited audio
- Macromedia Flash Player 3
- Added alpha transparency, licensed MP3 compression
- Macromedia Flash Player 4 (May 1999)
- Macromedia Flash Player 5 (August 2000)
- Macromedia Flash Player 6 (March 2002)
- Support for the consuming Flash Remoting and Web Service (SOAP)
- Support for screenreaders via Microsoft Active Accessibility
- Added Sorenson Sparc video codec
- Macromedia Flash Player 7 (September 2003)
- supports streaming audio and video
- supports ActionScript 2.0, an Object-Oriented Programming Language for developers
- Macromedia Flash Player 8 (August 2005)
- support of GIF and PNG bitmapped images
- new video codec (On2 VP6)
- improved runtime performance
- live filters such as blur and drop shadow
- file upload and download capabilities
- crisp pixel-perfect text rendering
- new security features to prevent unsafe code from running
- Flash Lite 1.0 and 1.1
- Based on Flash Player 4
- Flash Lite 2.0 (December 2005)
- Based on Flash Player 7
- Adobe Flash Player 9 (June 2006) previously named Flash Player 8.5
- New ECMAScript scripting engine, ActionScript Virtual Machine AVM2. AVM retained for compatibility.
- Actionscript 3 via AMV2.
- E4X, which is a new approach to parsing XML.
- Support for binary sockets.
- Support for Regular Expressions and namespaces.
[edit] References and notes
- ^ Abobe 'About Flash' page http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/about/ (Taken 1st October 2006)
- ^ Emmy Huang Weblog http://weblogs.macromedia.com/emmy/archives/2006/05/yes_virginia_th.cfm (Taken 3rd July 2006)
- ^ Macromedia - Flash Player SDK http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer_sdk/ (Taken 7th July 2006)
- ^ Adobe Success Story: LeapFrog Enterprises http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/showcase/index.cfm?event=casestudydetail&casestudyid=21019&loc=en_us (Taken 7th July 2006)
[edit] See also
- Macromedia Shockwave Player
- Gnash, a free software Flash player
Flash-specific file formats: .swf | .as | .flv
Other versions: FutureSplash Animator | Adobe Flash Lite
Miscellaneous: ActionScript | Adobe Flash Player | Local Shared Object | Flash animation
[edit] External links
- Adobe.com Official Flash Player information and download page.
