Macromedia Announces New Macromedia Flash 5 Player

Integration with Macromedia Generator and XML Server Technologies Enables New Class of Web Applications

Flashforward 2000, New York City —July 24, 2000—Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACR), today announced breakthrough new features in the Macromedia Flash 5 Player that will enable developers to engage site visitors with innovative next-generation Web applications. Announced today [ http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/proom/pr/2000/index_flash5.fhtml ], Macromedia Flash 5 [ http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/ ] is the professional standard for producing high-impact Web experiences. The free Macromedia Flash 5 Player, expected to be available in late August, will enable those users to experience all the Macromedia Flash 5 content that will be created, as well as retain its ability to play older Macromedia Flash content.

The Macromedia Flash 5 Player is tightly integrated with leading server technologies such as Extensible Markup Language (XML), for structured data transfer, and Macromedia Generator [ http://www.macromedia.com/software/generator/ ], for delivering server-created, real-time visual content to data-intensive, content-rich, highly-trafficked sites. For example, an e-commerce site can use Macromedia Generator to process complex catalog information based on user input, keeping the Macromedia Flash content compact by moving all the data-intensive graphics processing to Generator's scalable server infrastructure. The Macromedia Flash 5 Player also has support for HTML formatted text within Macromedia Flash content, as well as the ability to maintain a persistent connection between the lightweight client and server to share real-time XML information for mission-critical business applications.

"The Macromedia Flash 5 player delivers to enterprises a completely new level of scalability and flexibility in the client-server architecture they can design," said Peter Goldie, vice president of product management at Macromedia. "With the high-performance client-side capabilities of the player, combined with the server-side logic and real-time delivery of custom graphics using Macromedia Generator, our customers now have new options for delivering data-driven applications with branded, engaging user interfaces."

The player also uses the new ActionScript language that can be authored in Macromedia Flash 5, which is now easier for developers to write as it has the same syntax and structure as JavaScript. The Macromedia Flash 5 Player is also fully backward compatible, which will enable Internet users to continue experiencing Macromedia Flash content authored with earlier versions of Macromedia Flash. Developers can create new content in Macromedia Flash 5 that will play back on older versions of the player, as the new player gains acceptance online. For more information on Macromedia Flash 5 Player, visit the Web site at www.macromedia.com/go/flashplaypr.

Macromedia Generator 2 Enterprise Edition delivers real-time, personalized graphics to the Macromedia Flash Player for news and information sites such as CBS Sportsline, e-commerce sites such as Tiffany & Co., and entertainment sites such as Disney. This enables the sites to update their Macromedia Flash content with rich interactions, product configurations, and data visualization for personalized applications. Macromedia Flash 5 Player also enables Web site visitors to experience bandwidth-friendly, branded e-commerce applications that can read in and export XML data, which can be used for sales forms, virtual shopping carts, and stock availability screens.

"The Macromedia Flash Player has the ubiquity and the power to deliver the most engaging experiences possible to the largest audience of people online," said Phillip M. Torrone, Director of New Media, Braincraft Technologies. "Macromedia Flash 5 and Generator are the ideal enterprise level tools for providing the most compelling content to their visitors today. They help us build powerful Web applications for our B2B customers as they prepare to take advantage of the various device platforms of tomorrow."

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
The free Macromedia Flash 5 Player is currently in public beta, and is expected to be available in late August. Macromedia Generator 2 Enterprise Edition is available now and pricing starts at $30,000, including support, and maintenance. Professional services and 24x7 support are available at additional cost. It runs on Windows NT/2000, Sun Solaris, and Red Hat Linux platforms. Registered users of Macromedia Flash can purchase the Flash 5 Generator 2 Pro Developer Upgrade for $648. This offering includes the upgrade to Macromedia Flash 5 as well as Macromedia Generator 2 Developer Edition at half of its $999 price until December 29, 2000. Macromedia Generator 2 Developer Edition is now shipping and runs on Windows 95/98/NT/2000, Sun Solaris, and Red Hat Linux platforms.

ABOUT MACROMEDIA FLASH
Macromedia Flash is a growing Web phenomenon for creative Web professionals and consumers alike. More than a half million designers and developers already use the Macromedia Flash authoring environment to effectively convey their vision on the Web, and seven of the top ten visited sites on the Internet deploy Macromedia Flash authored content. Not only are the number of Macromedia Flash designers and developers rapidly increasing to meet the exploding corporate demand for delivering high-impact Web experiences, but Macromedia Flash Players for viewing that content are now found on virtually every Internet user's system, with currently 92 percent of online users, more than 248 million people, able to experience engaging content immediately.

ABOUT MACROMEDIA
Macromedia is passionate about what the Web can be. Its award-winning products empower developers to provide the most engaging experience on the Web, and enable more effective e-business. Headquartered in San Francisco, Macromedia (NASDAQ: MACR) has more than 1,200 employees worldwide and is available on the Internet at www.macromedia.com.