Q. Having put the X into eXperience, what new areas are you looking forward to Macromedia's team heading off into (including as part of a merged Adobe-Macromedia)?

A. I really love, no I'm infatuated with, the new video features in the next iteration of Flash. I think in the next couple of years Flash will become an increasingly viable option for video streaming and playback. It's just starting to take off right now but I see it becoming a, if not the, leading technology for video playback on the web in the near future. I hope Macromedia pursues this area more because other streaming media options out there are rather limited and not the lightest weight. I would also like to see easier multiuser development. Having some type of versioning that works well with Flash would be a feature I'm sure many developers would greatly appreciate.

Name: Justin Kozuch
Position: Witer, web developer, and Team Macromedia member who takes pride in helping other Macromedia Dreamweaver users.
Technologies used: Dreamweaver MX 2004, Fireworks MX 2004, ColdFusion MX 7.0

Q. In the last ten years what non-Macromedia technologies (if any!!) have you envied?

A. Photoshop. Fireworks has so much potential for improvement, it could very well give Photoshop a run for its money, but this potential lies within the contributions of the user community and how much Macromedia is willing to spend on R&D as far as improving Fireworks is concerned. Given the Macromedia-Adobe merger, I doubt that Fireworks has much of a future, which is rather unfortunate.

Q. When it comes to enterprise-class development, what do you consider Macromedia's main contribution to be in terms of technology and inspiration?

A. Coldfusion MX 7.0 has by far Macromedia's greatest contribution. The ability to communicate with Mobile Devices, provide rich experiences, and interact with the desktop by creating portable documents (PDF, FlashPaper) are just a few of the many aspects in which ColdFusion MX 7.0 excels. I am truly impressed with the ColdFusion MX 7.0 handles tasks with ease and how easy it is to create enterprise level applications with less code than some of the other programming languages out there (ASP, .NET, JSP, PHP, etc). As far as inspiration goes, Flash is definitely the winner. The ubiquity of the Flash player is one reason why it has so much "sex appeal". Creating rich experiences with Flash that can be viewed anywhere, anytime is the new Internet.

Q. Adobe-Macromedia?

A. I'd really like to see where Adobe takes the Flash Platform. That is definitely something I am interested in seeing, and how they progress with it.

Name: Matthew David
Position: Specialist in next-generation Web solutions and author of Flash Books (Flash MX Magic, Building Great Flash MX Games, Flash 3D Bible, and Flash MX Communication Server Bible). Writes 300 articles a year for more than 20 international magazines.
Technologies used: Flash MX 2004 Professional, Dreamweaver MX 2004 and Fireworks MX 2004.

"Flash is only at the start of it's technological wave. I see work where Flash is tied tightly into Adobe's product line (notably with Acrobat) and I also see where Flash is tied to application servers through technologies such as Flex and native Web services support."

Q. In the last ten years what non-Macromedia technologies (if any!!) have you envied?

A. The work being done in the 3D world. I really feel that the time is right for Flash to engage and use true 3D as a core feature to the Flash Player.

Q. When it comes to enterprise-class development, what do you consider Macromedia's main contribution to be in terms of technology and inspiration?

A. For me, the best has to be the evolution of Flash from animation to application software. This really allows me to build solutions that not only work, but buzz!

Name: Stephanie Sullivan
Position: Stephanie Sullivan is a Web developer, partner at CommunityMX (www.communitymx.com), owner of VioletSky Design (www.violetsky.net), and contributing author of Dreamweaver MX 2004 Magic.
Technologies used: "I use Dreamweaver about 16/6 (I have to sleep sometime); I use and receive Fireworks comps to create my sites with.;I work around ColdFusion with developers but don't write it; I use Flash to create sIFR swf files and tweak components and Freehand for the occasional print job."

"To me, one of the strong points of Macromedia as a company has been a) their involvement with, and reaction to, feedback of the community, and b) their vision for the future. I would like to see Adobe integrate and keep these attributes."

Q. In the last ten years what non-Macromedia technologies (if any!!) have you envied?

A. I don't envy anything really. I suppose a good font or CSS program World have been useful to me. But with Dreamweaver's recent CSS upgrades, that's hardly necessary now. Basically, if I need it I buy it, whether it's Macromedia or not. I just don't require much outside the Studio suite.

Q. Having put the X into eXperience, what new areas are you looking forward to Macromedia's team heading off into (including as part of a merged Adobe-Macromedia)?

A. I'm honestly hoping to see Adobe head into more of a Macromedia direction. In my opinion, the open ears and minds of the Product Managers and Engineers at Macromedia during alpha and beta development cycles is unmatched and the value shouldn't be underestimated. I hope this won't be lost. No doubt there will continue to be forward-thinking, innovative developments happening on the Flash platform. But what I hope the merger will bring is increased exposure for Fireworks. Having more development money and marketing muscle behind this very worthy, but lesser known product, is what I'd most hope to see happen.