America Online Includes Macromedia Flash And Shockwave Players in AOL 4.0 Software

Macromedia Flash and Shockwave Players Made Available to 13 Million Customers of Nation's Largest Online Service

SAN FRANCISCO, - Macromedia, Inc. announced that America Online is including Macromedia Flash and Shockwave players as part of its AOL 4.0 CD-ROM. As part of a significant new marketing and distribution agreement with America Online, millions of AOL users can automatically experience high-quality Flash and Shockwave content -- including games, animated user interfaces, interactive demos, vector-based Web graphics, cartoons and more -- without having to download and install a separate ActiveX control or plug-in.

Now available with AOL's 4.0 software, the new capabilities allow AOL customers to automatically enjoy compelling Web content on sites such as Shockrave ( http://www.shockrave.com ), Macromedia's popular Internet entertainment destination.

"Macromedia technologies have been rapidly adopted by AOL and other industry-leading companies as the Web standard for delivering rich, compelling Web content since we first opened the Flash file format in April," said David Mendels, vice president and co-general manager of Macromedia's Web Publishing division. "This agreement builds on that momentum. Consumers can experience the best of the Web without any download headaches, and designers don't have to worry about end-user compatibility with the content they create. We're very pleased to partner with AOL to realize our vision of adding life to the Web."

"We are very excited about including the Flash and Shockwave players with our release of AOL 4.0 on CD-ROMs," said David Gang, senior vice president of strategic development at AOL. "With Macromedia's players installed, AOL users will be equipped to experience the excitement of animation and entertainment on the Web."

Today's news follows Macromedia's earlier announcement that the Flash and Shockwave players are included with every copy of Windows 98. Macromedia also announced that Netscape is including the Flash player with all current versions of its Navigator browser. This news further establishes Macromedia player technologies as Web standards for delivering rich, interactive content on the Web.

About Macromedia Flash and Shockwave Players

Since its introduction in December 1995, Macromedia Shockwave has brought multimedia to the Internet, transforming the Web from a static, text-based medium into a dynamic, interactive experience. Shockwave content is created with Macromedia Director(R). Director, now in version 6.5, is an industry standard for creating powerful multimedia content. For more information, visit http://www.macromedia.com/software/director.

Macromedia Flash products bring compelling, interactive content to life on the Web. 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(TM) 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(TM) 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.

Macromedia recently published the popular Flash file format (.swf) as an open Internet binary standard with widespread support from industry-leading companies including Microsoft, IBM, RealNetworks, Netscape, Associated Press, @Home and Broderbund. The move establishes Flash as the Web standard for vector graphics and animation, provides a more attractive environment to content publishers, allows Web designers to make animation a standard element in their designs, and enables developers to deliver Flash-compatible authoring and editing tools. For more information, visit http://www.flash.com.

About AOL

America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leader in branded interactive services and content. America Online, Inc. operates two Internet online services: America Online, with more than 13 million members; and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members. America Online, Inc. also operates AOL Studios, the world's leading creator of original interactive content. Other branded Internet services operated by America Online, Inc. include AOL.COM, the world's most accessed Web site >from home; Digital City, Inc., the #1 branded local content network and community guide on AOL and the Internet; AOL NetFind, AOL's comprehensive guide to the Internet; AOL Instant Messenger, an instant messaging tool available on both AOL and the Internet; and ICQ, an instant communications and chat technology on the Internet.

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 has more than 550 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.

NOTE: Flash, Shockwave, Director, 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.

SOURCE Macromedia, Inc.
Web Site: http://www.flash.com/
Web site: http://www.macromedia.com