Since the release of the new Mac Book Pro and iMac with Intel I have been considering when to make the upgrade and move on to a new laptop. A few things are keeping me in check though. First off, this is a first gen or Alpha product that is going to have bugs (this is jus the nature of technology). Second off there are no 'Universal' binaries for Studio or any other Adobe products for that matter. But what about Rosetta? Well It doesn't look like Rosetta is very nice to Flash's new step brother. Photoshop CS2 runs much slower on the new Intel iMacs in speed tests, according to Ars Technica. Plus, according to the latest Photoshop TV video podcast, Adobe has a previous history of not release incremental updates, hence they think Photoshop will not be 'Universal' til CS3 (grab the vodcast yourself and watch between 16:40 and 18:10 for more info). But Photoshop isn't Studio. Actually, now that Flash and Macromedia are tied to Adobe, I think Flash and therefore Studio will be tied (at least loosely) to Photoshop. So if you feel the need for speed, it is probably a good idea to hold off on purchasing the new Mac Intels. At least wait till someone jumps on the bandwagon with official speed tests for Flash and FLV encoding.

Currently I'm going to consider a semi-update to a 'new' PowerBook instead and pray Flash Player 8.5 includes the first Universal Binary from Adobe, because as of right now Flash Player 8 does npt appeast to work in Safari on Intel without forcing Safari to run under Rosetta.

JD is worrying about this too, but what to do you think?

via The Unofficial Photoshop Weblog

Adobe starts its new week of Macromedia ownership with a huge release. Now you will be able to get the bundle that most of us already have. First up is the new Adobe design bundle coming with a full Adobe Creative Suite Premium and a copy of Macromedia Flash Professional 8. Second is the Adobe Web Bundle coming with Adobe Creative Suite Premium and Macromedia Studio. Both are set to be the cost you might have expected to pay for the seperate software pieces, but now they all come in one convient box (with a savings of a couple hundred dollars each). If you haven't upgraded to 8 and still have that older copy of Photoshop break out the wallet. Plus, you could always wait for that new video bundle their offering. Personally, I think I'll wait for the next round of upgrades before shelling out the two grand these require.

Thanks TUAW

Don't you hate it when this happens. You install a brand new program to test it out and then, BAM (thanks Emeril) it starts in another language. Huh, you say, this has never happened to me before. Well apparently it has been happening to someone because Macromedia posted a new TechNote that explains exactly why your new software is running oddly. Basically if you install any specific language version on your system and the system is set to a different default language (Your in Japan but you like to run Flash in English for the heck of it) the install will choose to run the software using the same language version that the computer has set. The simple solution Macromedia gives is to change your software's language after install, but if your like me and you run all English on a Japanese system just to mess with your friends, it will be next to impossible to navigate the menus to find the right option in a language you can't even read much less understand. My solution in the case is to change the default language on the system to the preferred language (if allowed of course) then install the software. Then change the system language back. Of course this seems a lot harder than navigating some foreign options, but, as my calculus teacher used to say, its character building.

Latest Katrina update: I get to go home for the first time since the storm starting Monday

With the recent release of Studio 8 for trial download, purchase download, and mail me my CD, Macromedia has release updated TechNotes for all new applications. So all of you people who like to read the manual first can finally dive into Flash head first and read everything Macromedia thinks anyone might need to know including all things Studio 8. Something startling to some Mac users might be the fact that Studio 8 no longer supports Mac OSX 10.2 and earlier. Plus Norton AntiVirus on Mac may cause issues with the Studio 8 installer. It is always entertaining to see technotes form and browsing through them in the past has actually helped to inspired new application development and more.

via John Dowdell

Latest Katrina update: NOCCA in encouraging its students to enroll in other institutions

I came across an interesting white paper snippet on Adobe's blogs that made me wonder (yet again) about the future of Flash for Mac. Specifically, will Flash 8 need to be re-released as a patched version for Macintosh on Intel. You see the white paper states that Adobe Creative Suite 2 and all other current versions of Adobe software will not be released for Mac on Intel computers. Instead Adobe is planning to have all future versions of their software to be compliant and will not worry about updating the older versions. This makes a lot of sense considering Mac on Intel will not be available to the general public for at least a year and will not have much penetration for at least two years (I assume). But how does this apply to Macromedia's (and now Adobe's) gem suite Studio 8? Since Studio 8 has just been released, and we seem to be on a one and half to two year cycle, will 8 need a Mac on Intel patch or will 9 (which could be released around the time Mac on Intel takes hold) be the first compliant version?

Latest Katrina update: Evacuees in Houston high school involved in fight

The official Studio release means more than just an opportunity to get started on all those new Flash 8 projects (including an RSS reader). It means you can enter to win a Free plasma TV (to view your really awesome Flash-based animations on), a miniDV camcorder (to use with the Camera object and Bitmap classes), or even a now obsolete iPod mini (to listen to the MP3s you will stream in the background of those cool animations that utilize the Bitmap features of Flash and stream video via the camera object). Everyone who purchases Studio 8 (full version or upgrade), Dreamweaver 8, Flash Professional 8, or Fireworks 8 before the end of September and registers the software by October 17 will have a chance to will one fo the three prizes. The only question is: if you convince your boss to by Studio for the office, you register it in your name, and you win the TV, do you have to invite the office over to watch the Super Bowl?

via TUAW

Lates Katrina update: Mazon will give 100% of all Katrina related donations directly to hurricane relief

Sure you can't wait for a Studio 8 box, but should you attned a seminar before you download, if at all? Heck, will you try to get one of the limited seminar spots before or after you download (even the online seminars a filling fast). I'm not sure what I'll do. I really want to go grab the product right now, but I want to see if the seminars have any new information. But, I may not be able to even get a seminar spot (certainly not for this week) so then the question becomes: When do you want to start the free trial? The other question I haven't started to think about is cost. Being mostly unemployed means this product may be out of my price range for a little be. But that doesn't stop people from test driving the Corvette so why should it stop me from trialing a little Studio 8. What do you think?

Latest Katrina update: Google map mashup shows max flooding in homes and current water level

I know you're tired, but stay up a little later and learn about Flash 8 Video. Take a look at a special video for FlashCodersNY group. Frank Galligan, VP of Engineering for On2 gave them a presentation on Flash 8's new Video and (of course) the inclusion of On2's new video codec in Flash 8. Supposedly the presentation requires registration via Sys-Con, so register there then click the link below to watch the full presentation.