Nickname: Mark

Review: I wish the article had spent some time on the applications that may be discontinued. At my design school, we still teach Director in light, in part, for its ability to script to a 3D environment. We are aware that there is little interest in Director in the industry, and that this may doom it. But we feel that 3D will become a design norm, and Director is the only product with which we can prepare our students for this future. What's going to happen to it? --mb

Date reviewed: Jan 3, 2006 8:55 PM

Nickname: flasher

Review: OK, since I have been complaining, I think it is only fair to give Adobe props for doing something right. I bought a used copy (legally transferred etc.) of Photoshop and have now purchased the CS Standard Suite upgrade to go on top of it (it will be here by the end of the week). From my earlier post you will know that this was irritating that this was the only way to get upgrade pricing, however Adobe was great helping me transfer the used license. Also, someone from customer service called me today (followup on something with Macromedia a few months ago) and I told him about the 3 things outlined here. He is actually going to send it up the chain to the appropriate people. I know the merger is difficult and now at least feel like they are trying.

Date reviewed: Jan 3, 2006 6:54 PM

Nickname: Sarah Lacy

Review: Hey everyone, this is the writer of the story. Thanks for all the comments. I was intrigued to read those about the developer unease with the merger. If anyone else shares these concerns or has others-- please speak up! Thanks. Sarah Lacy

Date reviewed: Jan 3, 2006 4:43 AM

Nickname: symnux

Review: Symbian-based Skype 3G (good for animation and video) mobile phone is coming out in spring 2006. Adobe better get into the UMTS/3G wave before it is too late.

Date reviewed: Dec 28, 2005 1:43 AM

Nickname: flasher

Review: This is a continuation of my 2 previous posts... And finally, most people who don't develop with Flash don't realize that Photoshop is not the best tool to use with Flash. Photoshop best imports to Flash as one giant bitmap. This works okay for backgrounds and photos, but is horrible for other stuff. It is much better to use Fireworks for more control, smaller file sizes, etc. Adobe does have a plug in (for $85) that makes into a more editable format for Flash. However, why is this not free if you already own Flash? It should be! Anyway, as a Flash developer, I am doing my best to embrace Adobe, but I have to say, so far I feel incredibly unwelcome.

Date reviewed: Dec 27, 2005 9:00 PM

Nickname: flasher

Review: This is a continuation of my earlier post... Second, anyone who owns Adobe creative suite is getting a special upgrade deal to acquire Macromedia's Studio 8. However, Studio 8 owners get to pay full price. They are only eligible for the normal Adobe upgrades (you must already own earlier version of creative suite or Photoshop) or have not upgraded to Studio 8 already (and have old versions of both studio and creative suite!) Even Macromedia's best customers (I have both MX 2004 and Studio 8 on two platforms!) are being offered no deals. See my third post for the final reason...

Date reviewed: Dec 27, 2005 8:58 PM

Nickname: flasher

Review: They are indeed going to have to work a great deal harder than they have been to win over the "Macromedians," as the article calls us. I have tried to keep an open mind with Adobe buying Macromedia, but so far saying I am unimpressed is an understatement. I am a certified Macromedia Flash Developer and here is what I have experienced so far: For two whole weeks after the merger was final the Web site where you send potential clients to verify your certified status was garbled. This happened when Adobe changed the Macromedia site to hold their colors and logo. All of the other pages were fine, except this one. Not only did it look bad, but searching for our names was not able to be done. Myself and several other people notified Adobe of the problem and it still took two weeks! Really angered lots of developers. Since this will take a few characters, I will have a second post with the other problems...

Date reviewed: Dec 27, 2005 8:50 PM

Nickname: dmatthews

Review: The article incorrectly identifies Linux as a challenge to Flash on mobile devices. In fact, Flash is not an operating system and Linux doesn't directly compete with it. But Flash is not a significant format on mobile devices anyway. Rather, the 3GPP and other phone industry organizations have chosen Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) as the graphical display standard for mobile devices. SVG is already shipping on most smartphones, including these 94 models from 11 vendors including Motorola: http://www.svg.org/special/svg_phones

Date reviewed: Dec 27, 2005 7:42 PM

Nickname: schnepp963

Review: Timely, cogent. Thought-provoking.

Date reviewed: Dec 27, 2005 4:34 PM

Nickname: ed

Review: A sure money-maker.

Date reviewed: Dec 27, 2005 2:04 AM