This might be old news, but not everyone is aware of the features available in the new Flash player. I gave up looking for the URL to the player release notes, but suddenly found it again today. Please be aware that these notes refer to r40, and that a newer player has come out. However, most of the important changes came with r40, which is why I'm referring to that technote instead. For more flash player information, visit http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/.
Here are upgrades to the Flash Player that I found most significant to my work, so I've selectively listed them here:
Universal Upgrades:
1. FSCommand and Javascript->Flash supported in Netscape 6.
2. ID3 support for imported mp3 files
3. Support for masking device fonts (only Actionscript-created masks)
4. Sound.start() works after calling Sound.stop()
5. Buffered streams can change volume
6. Textfields consume less memory!!!
For Windows:
1. Optimized for Pentium 4
2. Flash movies can play in Outlook Express
3. Flash is interactive inside IE layer with wmode attribute enabled (very important, I'm doing some crazy stuff with IFrames right now).
I think the ID3, buffered streaming volume, device font masking, and Netscape 6 javascript support are the five most significant reasons for users to update their players. I don't have any links to player detection scripts, but if you know of some good ones, feel free to post them in the comments section.
Posted by samuel at August 21, 2002 08:58 PM