[thelist] Flash 5

[.redstar.]

"...what i can't tell is if they are only updating the UI and developer
features, or if they also plan on a new Flash player..."

A public beta of the Macromedia Flash 5 Player can be downloaded from :
http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/alternates/
This way you can test that sites are correctly rendered with the new player.

"...if it's a new Flash player, will we see something like browser
adoption curves here?  people won't get the latest because they
don't care?..."

A poor comparison as updating the Flash player is not the same as updating a
browser (unless you use Opera ;), that is). The Flash player has had for
some time now an auto update feature that simplifies the process and as
Flash player is now incorporated in I.E. it will turn up in Microsoft's
browser update also. The Flash3/Flash4 change motivated a lot of discussion
at the time just because of this. Would users update ? How soon should one
start using Flash4 specific features? Many said it would take ages for users
to update to the new 4 player, but as time went by and the discussion
dragged on the Macromedia site continued quietly delivering hundreds of
thousands of players per day, and the whole matter just faded away into the
mists of internet ancient history.
I'm sure we'll see a replay of the 3/4 discussion and I'm also sure it will
be solved the same way the last one was. Some people will waste time
expanding their arguments others will just start producing with Flash5,
while the Macromedia server will go on dispensing the player time and time
again without stop.

.redstar.