For the last few years, Flash design has played a significant role in the web development industry. From making interactive presentations to online games, Flash has been used extensively by web design firms worldwide.

However, this powerful and versatile software, which started its journey as an animation tool, has often been criticized by a section of web developers for some of its inherent characteristics. It has drawn the flak from the detractors earlier for not having hardware acceleration feature. The search engine bots also ignore Flash heavy sites, which lower their rating eventually.

These factors, combined with the advent of newer technologies like Microsoft’s Silverlight and the much touted HTML5, has led some veterans to predict that Flash is heading towards a bleak future. However, Flash has its share of followers as well, who staunchly defend the need for implementing Flash design in websites.

In recent times, the release of Flash Player 10.2 has made Flash proponents excited. Adobe, apparently, is in no mood to let newer technologies steal the thunder from Flash. The latest release of Flash Player adds a number of performance improvements and features which bolster the need for Flash design in web.

The new features incorporated in Flash Player is all set to make Flash desirable for designers creating Flash intro designs. The much awaited GPU acceleration means Flash designers can now use complex animations without worrying about the final product causing system slowdown.

The other compelling feature includes enhanced drawing API, as well as advanced text layout. Flash experts are of the opinion that the new 3D features incorporated in the software will alter the way animators and designers create Flash intro designs.

With new custom filters, making fluid, responsive and realistic designs have become easier. These features will help Flash designers incorporate 3D in web usage like never before.

The previous attempts of incorporating 3D in web have been thwarted by lack of advanced technology and Internet speed. However, with the host of features offered by Flash and broadband internet penetration, this will no longer be a problem for designers.

The new text features of Flash are meant for providing designers with precise typographic designers. A new sound API introduced in Flash Player will also give developers better music synchronization capabilities. Web development industry veterans, however, are more excited about the minor, but important improvements introduced in Flash rather than its 3D capabilities.

However, like everything related to computer technology, every innovation comes with its downsides. With every new release, applications tend to hog more resource. It is true that now Flash Player supports GPU acceleration, but the benefits of this feature are yet to be observed.

Flash website design has a huge number of followers, who will now try to leverage the new features of Flash Player application. Industry veterans are of the opinion that owing to the established market and majority of market share, Flash will continue to be a part of website design and development for a few more years. Silverlight and HTML5 are yet to attain the same level of fan-following, and by the time they catch up, Adobe may implement even more compelling features in their favorite web development app – Flash!