Macromedia Flex version 1.5 released

Macromedia has announced Macromedia Flex 1.5, the newest version of Flex, a presentation server and application framework that enables enterprise development teams to put more effective interfaces on critical business applications.
This new version is being released alongside growing adoption of Flex by leading organisations in a broad range of industries - companies such as Pfizer, Dow Jones, BskyB, Meredith Corporation, Standard Bank, Optus, SAIC, Northrop Grumann and CSC use Flex to build and deploy rich Internet applications for guided selling, business process automation, and interactive data presentation.
"Flex momentum is growing because enterprises are crying out for more effective applications," said David Mendels, general manager, Macromedia. "Flex 1.5 will significantly accelerate customer success in building rich Internet applications. We're extremely excited to offer this new release to the general public."
Flex 1.5 includes four key benefits that allow developers to build and deploy more effective applications than ever before: improved data display and visualisation, more versatile skinning and styling, additional new deployment platforms and enhanced performance.
First, developers can create more effective data visualisation and data interactivity using dynamic, animated, and interactive charts and graphs and a new, more capable datagrid. Second, an expanded set of component styles empowers developers to quickly make a broader range of look and feel adjustments, while easier skinning allows infinite control over the look and feel of the application. Third, Flex 1.5 includes new support for Oracle Application Server 10g, IBM AIX, and Fujitsu Interstage 6 on the server side, while on the client side developers can deploy their applications to the browser or the Macromedia Central desktop deployment environment. Fourth, runtime shared libraries and faster application startup time can mean dramatically faster application downloads and performance.
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