SlideShowPro News

08.17.06 | Flash Player 8 at 86%

Not SlideShowPro news per se, but important nonetheless. According to the latest Flash player penetration stats, Flash Player 8 is now installed in 86% of web browsers currently surfing the web. Flash Player 7, the minimum version of the player acceptable for SlideShowPro, is at 96%.

Is there any reason to publish SWFs containing SlideShowPro to Flash Player 8 as opposed to 7? Yes -- text rendering. By default, Flash Player 8 uses an updated text rendering engine that vastly improves the legibility of text. By publishing your SlideShowPro SWFs as version 8 you can tap into this new engine, without having to change any settings, and your text fields -- from captions to album titles, descriptions, etc. -- will appear smoother and more legible.

Granted, there's still a healthy number of people out there who don't have 8 installed yet, so consider your audience (a stats package like Mint helps) before making any decisions.