98% of web browsers with Flash?

[mikeycorn]

From the Macromedia web site:

Nov. 4, 2002 - "Macromedia Flash Player is installed on 98 percent of web desktops, with demand for new content already driving Macromedia Flash Player 6 penetration to 53 percent of browsers and platforms."

Do you believe them?

[blindlizard]

I think it probably true because the study was conducted by a respected thrid party marketing information company NPD Group

[blindlizard]

Oh, and any one interested can find out about the study here Marcromedia

[mikeycorn]

So if I throw in a short little 2.82 KB .swf at the top of my page, you don't think I'll need to worry about adding any code to check if the browser has it?

And my other worry: 2.82 KB is small enough to where I don't have to worry about anyone bailing out waiting for my page to load when they first come to it, right?

[blindlizard]

It depends on what version of flash the .swf was made in. I am looking more at the study and it looks like the majority is Flash 2. Check out the chart http://www.macromedia.com/software/f...tml#appendixII
Flash 6 (Flash MX) is only 53% in the US

[techgnome]

I must be in that 2% that doesn't have it installed.

[blindlizard]

I wouldn't worry about the 2K either. Most html pages are bigger than that.

[blindlizard]

Originally posted by techgnome
I must be in that 2% that doesn't have it installed.

Are you sure you don't?

[mikeycorn]

Interesting numbers. I did it with Swish, and in the source it says

<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0" width="745" height="190">

so I guess that means it'll download version 5 if the target browser doesn't have it or is running an older version.

Going by the numbers from that link you just posted, that means there could be a good 5% of people hitting my site forced into waiting for that 150KB upgrade before the page loads.

The actual flash itself is so basic I bet you it could be accomplished in Flash 2, but I wouldn't know how to do it outside of Swish (and I couldn't afford it) and I don't remember there being a way to scale back the version required on your swift projects (maybe there is, I'm gonna check.)

[da_silvy]

Flash is annoying at times.

It also seems to get overused when there is no need for it :/

I have a broadband connection but I still don't like waiting, so if I'm visiting a site that has a huge flash file, chances are I won't continue browsing :/

[blindlizard]

Originally posted by mikeycorn

Going by the numbers from that link you just posted, that means there could be a good 5% of people hitting my site forced into waiting for that 150KB upgrade before the page loads.

The user doesn't have to install flash to get into your site. They can choose no when the prompt comes up, and they will just see you html.

[mikeycorn]

I'm running XP Pro and I uninstalled Flash, hit my site and IE was just sitting there downloading and only after this did it give me the Yes / Cancel install Macromedia Flash.

Perhaps that's a new "convenience" with XP, download the codebase first, then ask if the user wants to install.

I think I'm going to uninstall flash again and try removing the codebase= after the object classid= and see what happens.

[techgnome]

Originally posted by blindlizard
Are you sure you don't?

Positive. The IE plug in is installed, but I don't use IE. And I haven't bothered to download the plug in for my browser. And I proly won't either.

[mikeycorn]

What browser are you running, and can you tell me how it looks when you click on my page?

http://www.vellosoft.com/dloads/list.html

[da_silvy]

the flash or the website?

[mikeycorn]

Both, I guess. I know everybody and their brother has a website they want you to check out, but I put this website up and I really haven't had any resource available to get some good feedback.

[da_silvy]

not too sure about the color scheme

flash looks good

[mikeycorn]

You know what? That color scheme was the one thing I was looking at and I knew it was a bit . . . loud, I couldn't figure out how to make it look better, so I kind of forgot about it.

Thanks for checking it out. I'm going to readdress that color scheme now.

BTW, I think the problem is probably too many colors, but . . . I'm using dreamweaver and one thing I've always been reluctant to do is go beyond the 48 colors that first pop-up when I go into Text | Color. Is this a silly superstition I have towards browser compatibility? (i.e. what are the limits you must consider when working with colors?)

Thanks a lot for your help!