FLASH: MACROMEDIA ANNOUNCES FLASH PLAYER FOR LINUX

[Brad Bechtel]

MACROMEDIA ANNOUNCES FLASH PLAYER FOR LINUX


Free Public Beta of Popular Player Technology Brings Compact, Vector-Based Web Graphics and Animations to Solaris and Linux Users



San Francisco, Calif. --- November 24, 1998 --- Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACR) today released a free public beta of its popular Flash Player for the Sun Microsystems, Inc.'s Solaris� operating environment and the co-operatively developed Linux operating system.  The new UNIX players allow Web surfers on Solaris and Linux systems to view beautiful, fast-downloading, vector-based graphics, animations and Web interfaces created with Macromedia Flash authoring software.  The free player is available today from Macromedia's Web site at http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download.


"Flash content is standard on many leading corporate and entertainment Web sitesand can now be displayed on UNIX systems," said Ben Dillon, director of Flash product management at Macromedia.  "With more than seven million users, Linux has established itself as an important platform. Solaris is a key operating system for Web servers and the enterprise.  Along with our support for the Windows and Macintosh platforms and set-top environments as WebTV, the new UNIX Players ensure that Flash content has maximum reach on the Internet."


"We are thrilled to see leading vendors such as Macromedia recognize the momentum and potential of Linux," said Robert Young, CEO of Red Hat Software, a prominent vendor of Linux tools and services.  "This is a logical step for Macromedia, considering that they opened the Flash file format last spring, and that they have long been on the leading edge in the Web Publishing space."



Today's news follows Macromedia's earlier announcements that the Flash and Shockwave Players are included with every copy of Windows 98 and Mac OS 8.1 and higher, as well as on all AOL 4.0 CD-ROMs and downloads.  The Flash Player is also included as a standard component of all currently shipping Netscape Navigator browsers, as well as in WebTV boxes and the Real Player from RealNetworks.


Macromedia Flash products bring compelling, interactive content to life on the Web.  Companies using Flash to make their Web sites more dynamic, faster, and more compelling for users include: Pier 1 Imports, the Official Site of the International Olympic Committee, Mitsubishi Motors UK, and more.  Professional Web designers use the Flash authoring tool to create and deliver compact, fast, and beautiful vector-based graphics and animation for the Web.  Macromedia Generator is new server-based software that uses templates created in Flash to deliver Web graphics on-the-fly from dynamic, real-time data.  Illustrators and designers can also use the award-winning FreeHand 8 to produce Flash graphics for the Web.  The free Flash Player enables Web consumers to display Flash and Generator content that streams, or plays, as it downloads from within a Web browser -- even over slow Internet connections.


About Macromedia Macromedia's mission is to add life to the Web.  By providing its award-winning Web Publishing, Web Traffic, and Web Learning solutions to Web designers, consumers, and the enterprise, Macromedia is delivering a completely new generation of Internet tools and technologies designed to transform the Web experience.  Headquartered in San Francisco, Macromedia (NASDAQ:  MACR) has more than 500 employees worldwide and is available on the Internet at http://www.macromedia.com.   Macromedia also hosts one of the most engaging entertainment sites on the Web at http://www.shockrave.com.


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Flash Player, Flash, Shockwave, Generator and FreeHand are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc., as indicated.  Other company names, brand names and product names may be trademarks of others.




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