Macromedia Flex Version 1.5 Announced

Macromedia Flex Version 1.5 Announced

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Macromedia Flex Continues Rapid Customer Adoption, Version 1.5 Announced

Flex 1.5 simplifies development, enables more expressive applications

AUCKLAND, New Zealand- October 20, 2004 - Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR) has announced MacromediaÒ FlexÔ 1.5, the newest version of Flex, a presentation server and application framework that enables enterprise development teams to put more effective interfaces on critical business applications. This new version is being released alongside growing adoption of Flex by leading organisations in a broad range of industries (see quote sheet below). Companies such as Pfizer, Dow Jones, BskyB, Meredith Corporation, Standard Bank, Optus, SAIC, Northrop Grumann and CSC use Flex to build and deploy rich Internet applications for guided selling, business process automation and interactive data presentation.

"Flex momentum is growing because enterprises are crying out for more effective applications," said David Mendels, general manager, Macromedia. "Flex 1.5 will significantly accelerate customer success in building rich Internet applications. We're extremely excited to offer this new release to the general public."

"The application we created with Flex is a vital component of our effort to improve children's health care," said Chris Ogden, director of software development, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "It allows us to create a way for doctors to display data in ways that were previously impossible and use this data more effectively to improve the quality of care they provide. The ease of use promotes adoption by busy doctors and we expect to dramatically reduce training and support time. Ultimately, this application will be an important way to improve the health of children."

Flex 1.5 includes four key benefits that allow developers to build and deploy more effective applications than ever before: improved data display and visualisation, more versatile skinning and styling, additional new deployment platforms and enhanced performance.

First, developers can create more effective data visualisation and data interactivity using dynamic, animated and interactive charts and graphs, and a new, more capable datagrid. Second, an expanded set of component styles empowers developers to quickly make a broader range of look and feel adjustments, while easier skinning allows infinite control over the look and feel of the application. Third, Flex 1.5 includes new support for Oracle Application Server 10g, IBM AIX, and Fujitsu Interstage 6 on the server side, while on the client side developers can deploy their applications to the browser or the Macromedia CentralÔ desktop deployment environment. Fourth, runtime shared libraries and faster application startup time can mean dramatically faster application downloads and performance.

"The performance enhancements in Flex 1.5 are immediately apparent," said Clint Tredway, senior developer, Lee Financial Group. "Flex 1.5 gives our rich Internet application a 50 percent performance increase. Our end users will definitely appreciate this combination of performance and a rich user interface."

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

Flex 1.0 customers who are on a maintenance plan will receive a free upgrade to Flex 1.5. Pricing information on Flex is available at http://www.macromedia.com/go/flex/.

Flex 1.5 is expected to be available in English in November. Localised documentation and packaging for the Japanese market will also be available. Flex 1.5 and Flex BuilderÔ will be available to download for free trial at http://www.macromedia.com/go/flex/. To learn more about new features in Flex 1.5, and to sign up to be notified about availability of Flex 1.5, visit www.macromedia.com/go/flex/.

ABOUT MACROMEDIA

Experience matters. Macromedia is motivated by the belief that great experiences build great businesses. Our software empowers millions of business users, developers, and designers to create and deliver effective, compelling, and memorable experiences - on the Internet, on fixed media, on wireless, and on digital devices.

Partners and Developers Support Flex 1.5 for Enterprise Application Development

Choice Homes, Inc.

"We have used Flex to overhaul and improve several internal and external applications. In each case, Flex offered a more powerful, more efficient solution in a remarkably brief development time. We used Flex to update an existing database application and although the interface only took a day to build, we expect it will increase productivity for our data entry clerks by at least 50 percent."

-Tim Farmer, software development manager, Choice Homes, Inc.

Dorado Corporation "The applications we design for large lending institutions need to handle over one billion dollars in transactions a day and peak load that exceeds one thousand concurrent users. Flex 1.5 enables us to design rich Internet applications that not only handle this level of activity, but simultaneously offer a superior user experience and minimise implementation and maintenance costs."

-Rob Carpenter, chief technology officer and founder, Dorado Corporation

mFoundry

"The new charting and customisation features in Macromedia Flex 1.5 enabled us to build a dashboard that delivers intuitive, interactive reports to our clients, displaying when, how, and where their mobile device applications are being used. This information empowers them to make strategic decisions that will improve their bottom line and we couldn't have done it without Flex 1.5."

-Drew Sievers, CEO, mFoundry

Molecular, Inc.

"With Macromedia Flex, we developed Single-Screen Checkout, a streamlined checkout experience for leading retailers. This rich Internet application helps e-commerce organizations reduce shopping cart abandonment and increase conversion. Now with Flex 1.5, the pre-eminent platform for developing rich Internet applications is even better. Everything we wished we had and asked for is in Flex 1.5."

-Don Cosseboom, director of R&D, Molecular, Inc.

Rotech Healthcare, Inc.

"Before Flex, we relied on standard HTML pages to build web applications to handle the multitude of faxes and eOrders from our providers. These were cumbersome and kludge and therefore made building rich applications very difficult. Now our rich Internet application collects orders and allows us to link to legacy billing systems through a controlled interface to allow the customer service representative to quickly confirm and bring the process to completion. We expect this new system will render tremendous return on investment."

-Michael J. Prichard, IT manager, Rotech Healthcare, Inc.

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