Flash MX

The most obvious improvement in Flash MX is another complete interface redesign. It has been developed from the ground up with separate environments for designer and developer.

All floating panels are now collapsible and docked, and the property inspector is context-sensitive, displaying available settings only.

Key improvements for designers include text handling with text now breakable into separate components. Characters can be placed on separate layers.

Also worthy of note is a new Free Transform tool that combines scale, rotation, skew and distortion settings into one.

Video can now be directly imported into Flash movies and manipulated like any other object, and developers will like the ActionScript improvements. The revamped editor is more intuitive and includes code hinting, auto-complete and auto-formatting.

A code debugger helps you locate possible errors, and is made easier thanks to breakpoints and code stepping.

The introduction of Named Anchors makes a Flash site more appealing to end-users, as this allows it to be navigated like a traditional HTML site.

Accessibility is now tightly integrated into the design process and can be created with next to no effort - a boon for many users.

Purchase Price: £369.