Macromedia today announced Macromedia MX, a new integrated family of client, tool, and server technologies for creating rich Internet applications that promise significantly more intuitive, responsive, and effective user experiences across platforms and devices.
"Internet users want to move from browsing to doing and in the process accomplish complex tasks faster with more intuitive applications," said Rob Burgess, chairman and CEO, Macromedia. "Rich Internet applications built with Macromedia MX make this possible by combining the interactivity that used to only be possible in client/server applications with the broad reach and low deployment cost of web applications."
Individually, the products in the Macromedia MX family are major new releases that offer designers and developers powerful new functionality for creating effective user experiences across the spectrum of Internet solutions from basic websites to complex web applications. Together, the Macromedia MX products are the first integrated family for building rich Internet applications and have already gained broad industry support from Apple, IBM, Intel, Liberate, Microsoft, OpenTV, Sony Ericsson, and Sun Microsystems.
Rich Internet applications take advantage of user experiences made possible by rich client technology that extends the capabilities of web browsers and Internet connected devices. The Macromedia MX family is designed to leverage the capabilities of Macromedia Flash Player, the most widely distributed rich client on the Internet, which is deployed to 98 percent of web users.
The Macromedia MX product family includes the Macromedia ColdFusion MX server-scripting environment and a powerful suite of development tools: Macromedia Flash MX, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, Macromedia Fireworks MX, and Macromedia FreeHand 10, which are available together in Macromedia Studio MX.
"The Macromedia MX product line enables us to quickly develop rich Internet applications like improving the end-user experience of configuring a Mercedes-Benz online," said Scott Neil, interactive services manager, Mercedes-Benz Canada." The integration available between the MX products will result in an expressive user experience, plus other time savings by updating our information using our content management system developed by G+A Electramedia using ColdFusion."
Webvertising, a Macromedia Alliance member, has built a rich Internet application for online hotel reservations already used by several leading luxury hotels. With Webvertising's OneScreen solution, The Broadmoor increased reservations by 35 percent. Webvertising is now using Macromedia Flash MX, Dreamweaver MX, and ColdFusion MX together to build the next generation of OneScreen.
"The integrated Macromedia MX products are helping us build rich Internet applications that are far more intuitive, responsive, and effective than traditional web applications," said Jim Whitney, chief technical officer, Webvertising. "This is the way all applications should be built in the future."
In addition to increasing results through better user experiences, rich Internet applications built with Macromedia MX lower development costs and leverage existing IT infrastructure. Developers can use Macromedia MX to build solutions on the Sun Java platform and the Microsoft .NET Framework, and the products in Macromedia MX have strong support for industry standards such as XML, web services, and accessibility.
"To control development costs, increase productivity, and enhance creativity, designers and developers need tools, servers, and run-time environments that are easy to use, designed to work together seamlessly, and have customizable and familiar interfaces," said Rikki Kirzner, research director, IDC. "Furthermore, the products that deliver the most value to both developers and companies are those that not only offer rich functionality but were created to produce dynamic websites, Internet applications, and help deliver productive user experiences online."
Macromedia Flash MX - Macromedia Flash MX is a software solution for developing rich Internet content and applications. The video, multimedia, and application development features allow users to create user interfaces, online advertising, e-learning courses, and enterprise application front-ends. Flash MX has a customizable, intuitive user interface with such features as panel layout, accelerator keys, and publish settings.
Timeline enhancements such as folders for organizing and accessing layered content, improved cursor feedback, and the ability to resize, cut, and paste multiple frames make it easier to use. The Property Inspector shows only relevant, context-sensitive settings when you work with tools and objects, reducing the number of panels open at any time. Select multiple objects and use the Distribute to Layers command to automatically distribute the objects to their respective layers. The new layers will be named based on the content selected.
New quick-start templates allow you to create professional-looking presentations, photo albums, advertisements, and e-learning content. Other new features include video support for any standard video file supported by QuickTime or Windows Media Player, Color Mixer enhancements, a Free Transform tool, and pixel-level snapping control. Flash MX also features a customizable ActionScript editing environment with customizable text display properties, syntax coloring, and toolbox panel content.