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A beta version of the next version of the software, which is the de facto standard for animation on the Web, was released last month. It includes a new video codec, VP6, which is said to provide a significant improvement on Flash 7, and support for alpha transparency in order to enable the combination of video with text and vector elements on the fly.

Macromedia has reportedly mocked rival video formats during recent demonstrations of Flash 8.

The imminent acquisition of Macromedia by Adobe is certain to further strengthen the Flash platform, as we can expect to see it ever more tightly integrated into Adobe's key creative applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator.

The Flash player, which is generally bundled with operating systems and Web browser downloads, is said to be installed on 98 per cent of all computers, giving it much the highest penetration of any of the multimedia plugins.