I have used Flash. Its good points are:
- very easy to install on Windows machines
- excellent curve artistry
- excellent animation
- good Action Script language
- its movies tend to be quite compact (few bytes long)
···
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Flash's weak points are:
- heavily oriented to people who like to or can do a lot with their
mouses
- Action Script cannot replace the objects created or placed with the
mouse
- There is not a Python interface to either Flash or to Action Script
- It does not seem to be able to refer to external files, so the
pictures, web pages, and sounds you play all seem to need to be INSIDE
the flash movie (unlike html files that pull in a lot of files outside
the html script).
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I just downloaded Java Webstart and then clicked on the first four demos
at the Sun site
http://java.sun.com/products/javawebstart/demos.html.
The files to run the demos were missing, so I could not see Java
Webstart in action to make a comparison.
The installation of Java Webstart was very easy and the fifth demo (the
Java Web Start Application Manager launched the first time).
When the demo is fixed, someone should compare this to Flash, as the
original poster requested.
Mike