New Macromedia Flash 5 Empowers the Next Generation of Web Designers and Developers

Product delivers more powerful features while simplifying the authoring process for Web experiences and applications

Flashforward 2000, New York City—July 24, 2000—Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACR), today announced Macromedia Flash 5, the professional standard for producing high-impact Web experiences. Macromedia Flash 5 provides an accessible authoring experience that will enable both designers and developers to more easily create next-generation Web applications. Macromedia Flash content permeates the Web, with leading brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike, and BMW deploying Macromedia Flash to deliver high-impact motion, sound, interactivity, and graphics.

"Macromedia Flash is an entire movement—and this is just the beginning," said Rob Burgess, chairman and CEO of Macromedia. "From USA BancShares to David Lynch to brands like Volkswagen and Tiffany & Co., the Flash community is being built by people who want to create more engaging and effective Web experiences. Macromedia Flash 5 helps get them there."

Designers will immediately be comfortable working in Macromedia Flash 5 because of its familiar industry standard user interface (see separate release), new creative tools, and seamless integration with Macromedia FreeHand and Fireworks. Macromedia Flash 5 application developers will benefit from ActionScript—a complete JavaScript-like language for creating interactivity, and support for XML data interchange. Professional design firms that need to produce high volumes of Macromedia Flash content will benefit from the tight integration with Macromedia Generator Developer Edition for automating Macromedia Flash production workflows for increased productivity.

"Macromedia Flash 5 has made authoring high-impact content even easier with this release," said Colin Moock, Web evangelist for ICE Integrated Communications and Entertainment. "The product is full of new and improved features that make content creation more intuitive, but the revamped user interface is worth the upgrade price alone."

Macromedia Flash 5 is immediately more accessible due to the newly redesigned user interface that simplifies the process of inspecting and editing Macromedia Flash content. A new Bézier pen tool in Macromedia Flash 5 complements the product's innovative natural drawing tools and enables traditional illustrators accustomed to technical drawing tools to easily work within the authoring environment. Macromedia FreeHand users will benefit from the ability to import native FreeHand files directly into Macromedia Flash, maintaining the design integrity of the file. Another new addition to the authoring environment is "Smart Clips," components of complex interactivity such as user interface widgets or multiple choice forms that can be shared, reused, and customized for any Macromedia Flash development need. Publishing features in Macromedia Flash 5 ensure that authors can easily deploy content for the huge installed base of Macromedia Flash Players and also add new functionality for exporting content for synchronized playback in RealNetworks' RealPlayer.

For developers, Macromedia Flash 5 significantly extends the capabilities for creating ActionScripts that build sophisticated interactivity into Macromedia Flash content. The syntax and structure for writing ActionScript is now the same as JavaScript, which is familiar to the majority of Web developers. A new ActionScript editing environment dramatically reduces development time. Shared Symbol Libraries let teams of users on a project organize and reuse shared media assets across a project. The Movie Explorer enables users to see all the components in a project and their relationships, in an intuitive hierarchical structure. For more information on Macromedia Flash 5, and a comprehensive feature tour, visit the Web site at www.macromedia.com/go/flashpr.

Macromedia Flash 5 is also tightly integrated with Macromedia Generator, the solution for delivering dynamic visual content. The Macromedia Generator 2 Developer Edition, available bundled with the Macromedia Flash 5 upgrade at a special price, is the data-driven solution for automating the production of Macromedia Flash Web sites by separating design from content, which reduces maintenance time and increases productivity.

"Macromedia Flash 5 enables everyone from first-time designers to established professional developers to create Web experiences, bandwidth-friendly Web applications, and branded user interfaces for e-commerce sites, " said Peter Goldie, vice president of product management for Macromedia. "With Macromedia Flash 5, we've dramatically simplified the authoring experience for new users, and at the same time, provided developers with a whole new level of powerful capabilities." Macromedia Flash 5 further supports the rapidly growing developer community with the introduction of the Macromedia Dashboard, a central interface built into the authoring environment to provide direct access to the vast amount of online resources relating to authoring with Macromedia Flash.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
Macromedia Flash 5 is expected to ship in September of 2000. The product is available in a standalone version for $399, or as part of the Macromedia Flash 5 FreeHand 9 Studio for $599. Registered users of Macromedia Flash can upgrade to Macromedia Flash 5 for $149 or the Macromedia Flash 5 FreeHand 9 Studio for $249. Professional developers who are registered users of Macromedia Flash can purchase the Flash 5 Generator 2 Pro Developer Upgrade for $648. This offering includes Macromedia Generator 2 Developer Edition at half of its $999 price until December 29, 2000.

ABOUT MACROMEDIA FLASH
Macromedia Flash is a growing Web phenomenon for creative Web professionals and consumers alike. More than a half million designers and developers already use the Macromedia Flash authoring environment to effectively convey their vision on the Web, and seven of the top ten visited sites on the Internet deploy Macromedia Flash authored content. Not only are the number of Macromedia Flash designers and developers rapidly increasing to meet the exploding corporate demand for delivering high-impact Web experiences, but Macromedia Flash Players for viewing that content are now found on virtually every Internet user's system, with currently 92% of online users, more than 248 million people, able to experience engaging content immediately. The Macromedia Flash Player is the most widely distributed software in the history of the Web.

ABOUT MACROMEDIA
Macromedia is passionate about what the Web can be. Its award-winning products empower developers to provide the most engaging experience on the Web, and enable more effective e-business. Headquartered in San Francisco, Macromedia (NASDAQ: MACR) has more than 1,200 employees worldwide and is available on the Internet at www.macromedia.com.