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The latest release of Macromedias popular multimedia application development platform, Director MX 2004, is hardly an overhaul of the previous version, which eWeek Labs reviewed last year.
However, for some businesses, Director MX 2004 might qualify as a must-have upgrade for one new feature that addresses the products biggest weakness.
Using the $1,199 Director MX 2004, which shipped in February, I could develop applications on one platform and deploy them to Windows and Mac OS players (see screen, above). Although this was always a much-needed feature in terms of convenience, it is now much more important due to Macromedias activation features. Activation makes it less likely that users will have both Mac OS and Windows versions of the product.
Another handy new feature makes it possible for developers to script applications using Directors long-standing Lingo language or the much more common JavaScript. I especially liked the option of using Lingo for classic Director functions while tapping JavaScript for standard Web capabilities.
Most of the other new features in Director MX 2004 relate to integration with Flash MX 2004 and other Macromedia products. Director also supports DVD-Video.
For more information, go to www.macromedia.com/software/director/.
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