Ted Patrick > { Events & Community } > Adobe Systems

Is it just me or doesn’t the auto-update seem critically flawed in design.

From an end user perspective, I see some serious problems in the Flash 7 Player Beta:

1. Updating the Player requires end user interaction.

If we really want the F7 player to be deployed faster and updated more frequently, why are we relying on the end user? Obviously most users already have Flash installed or stated anther way, they approve of the Flash Player being installed on the local machine. An installed player should have the capability to update itself in a completely automated fashion without user interaction.

If this were the case it wouldn't take 14 months to get a new player to 90% deployed, it would take 2 months. Even better is the fact that the deployed player pool would be running a narrow range of versions. This would avoid the sub-version errors that plague Flash players v5 & v6.

2. Taskbar application provides little benefit to the end user.

This application is only of value to Flash developers, so why is it included in the end user release? I want to know when there is a player update, but why should the end user have to know? My mother (very non-technical end user) could care less that there is a Flash Player update. If you bother her enough with taskbar pop-ups, she will not want Flash installed at all. Not exactly an ideal result.

3. This only adds file size to the player!!!!

The taskbar updater only serves to add size the current player download. Sure 80K isn't much, but what features have been passed over so that this was included in the release. 80K used to be 1/3 of the player download size. I could think of 10 things that I want added that would fit in 80K. REGEX Support and a full client side Actionscript Interpreter come to mind quickly!

In a perfect world, if an end user needed a player upgrade, I as a developer could upgrade their player to a suitable version via a system method in the existing player. The user would not be asked any questions, the user would see a progress bar showing the update, and when the update was complete it would run my application as needed.

The purpose of software is to simplify, automate, and save the end user time. The more time a piece of software saves, the more valuable it is. Wasting the end users time by asking questions and running taskbar applications, detracts from the value of the Flash Player. It is just that simple.

A silent, automated upgrade of the Flash Player internally would equate to a Platform victory for Flash. As it is currently implemented the GetFlash Updater is a disaster waiting to be uninstalled.

Regard,

Theodore E. Patrick
PowerSDK - Code for a distributed world
http://www.powersdk.com