Flash Player 8.5 changes name to Flash Player 9

Today Adobe announced that the next Flash Player will not be released with the version number 8.5, but rather 9. Nothing is new other than the name but it's probably a smart move.

The next version of the player will be quite different from former versions, so in that sense it's a significant change. With all the new features in the new Player, it is certainly easy to justify a major version number. It is also easier for end users to accept an upgrade to a major version number though this is less of a concern now with the auto-updating Flash Player.

The change may cause a little confusion as the Flash Players and IDE's always have been launched simultaneously. This time, the Flash 9 authoring tool will arrive later than the player. The player will instead be distributed around the time when Flex 2 is released. According to the Adobe FAQ: "We expect to release an ActionScript 3.0 preview release (public alpha) of the next release of the Flash authoring tool, code-named "BLAZE", on Adobe Labs around the time of the Flash Player 9 launch.". This is the first time we have heard an official statement of when Flash 9 will arrive so we can start guessing at what events Macromedia will choose for the announcement. Next years MAX might be a good fit.

The Flash Player formerly known as Flash Player 8.5... No wonder Emmy Huang, Product Manager for Flash Player at Adobe can't help but humming songs by Prince...
Read more at Adobe Labs

 

 

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