Well folks, it is finally here. Flash MX (6) has been released, and there is no longer the hustle and bustle over little kiddies getting their hands on hacked beta copies. I must say that the first thing that impresses me overall about Flash MX, is the fact that Macromedia, for the most part, listened to the community of Flash developers, and actually let a few of them into the development process. A lot of the quirks and quibbles about the program are now fixed, although a few still remain.

Ok, so enough of me babbling on, and onto the actual juicy review. The first thing you will notice about MX, is the new interface. The new properties tab/console allows you to edit ANY property for ANY object on your stage. It allows you to edit between Motion and Shape tween, allows you to edit Alpha, Tint, Brightness, etc. on objects, it allows you to transform the _x and _y coordinates on the clip, etc… Basically it took away about 4 or 5 of the palettes you had before (Effects, Info, etc.). A lot of my friends have actually mentioned that they don't like how much space the Properties panel takes up, but when you think about it, it actually just saved you from having 3 or 4 different panels open. Another interface change is the fact that each panel/palette is dock-able, and minimize-able. This has to be one of my favorite features, as it allows me to have my Library, Align, Components, and many other panels open all at once, and I can just minimize or maximize as needed.

Another great feature integrated in MX, is the ability to import video and embed it into your FLA file. Flash MX uses the Sorenson Spark codec to "squeeze" your Quick Time files down to minimalist sizes. In a test, I took a 43 MB Quick Time file, imported it at 50% quality, and 24 frames per second, and 100% scale (320x240) and my final SWF output was 1 MB!!!! Although, I will say, that the quality wasn't the best, but what can you expect at 50% quality? If you go t
o http://www.sorenson.com they are now selling the Sorenson Squeeze software that will compact your Quick Time files even more before you import them into Flash.

You can now also dynamically import JPG's and MP3's through the loadMovie command as well. This I see as a VERY fun feature of Flash, and I myself can see my own Photography section being updated through MX VERY soon.
Example:

on (release) {
loadMovie("whatever.jpg", 0)
}

on (release) {
loadMovie("whatever.mp3", 0)
}

Put these commands on a button and then…..voila….it imports :) Just a quick example of a powerful feature. Be careful though, don't try to load Progressive JPGs in, or you will lock up the Flash Player.

Onto the next feature, the Components. WOW! I am liking these :) The new components in Flash MX give you the ability to Drag and Drop a Scrollbar, Scrollpane, Checkbox, Combobox, Listbox, Pushbutton, or Radiobutton, right into your file, and implement it INSTANTLY! But wait, the best part is yet to come….you can actually create your own components and sell them on the flash market, give them away as open source, or do whatever you want with them.

The timeline has also undergone a great bit of improvement as well. You now have the ability to create folders in which to put your many many layers. Also, if you create a piece of text, and decide to make a text effect out of it, you can just choose to Distribute as Layers, and Flash is nice enough to put each letter on a different layer for ya. Awww how nice :) . One GREAT feature that I haven't heard many people notice is the Select All Keyframes. I don't know how many times I have sat around and waited for Flash to go through its maximum 16,000 frames while holding my mouse to the right side, and then I wake up and find out I have somehow stopped at frame 10,000. YES, I know there are easier ways, but the Select A
ll Keyframes is better than any way at all :) .

Macromedia also decided to put in a free transform tool, so that now we can actually do REAL transforming! The Envelope feature is another favorite of mine, as you can make your text look wavy, etc. (it's the little things that please me)

There are many new features here that I am probably missing, but it's a short review, buy the program and find more for out for yourself! A couple features I have decided to miss here to make this shorter are as follows:
· Answers palette (updateable support connected to macromedia.com)
· Fill Transform Tool (FINALLY an easy way to edit Gradients)
· MANY MANY actionscript changes (too many to list)
· Webcam and microphone support (not yet released)
· Drawing API (draw vectors, etc through actionscript)
· New color palettes (all around better)
· Faster Flash Plugin on Mac, Slower Flash Plugin on PC

So, in review, I would give the upgrade to Flash MX, a 9 out of 10. In my opinion, this is a must upgrade for any professional Flash developer. But once again, that is just my opinion, and you should form your own opinion by visiting http://www.macromedia.comand downloading the trial and determining for yourself.