Millie, I think Dave and Kent pretty much answered your question about Flex cost. Since you mention education licenses, one thing I can add is that academic licenses for Flex 2 w/Components are a mere $79! Of course you have to be a student, teacher, professor, etc. One source here: www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketdisp.html?PartNo=760814
Also, since you already have Flash 8 Pro you can use that to start doing AS3 programming today, by just downloading and adding in the "Flash Professional 9 ActionScript 3.0 Preview": http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flash9as3preview/ (btw ... since you have had issues with upgrade licenses, I suggest you download the AS3 Preview today just in case you do not upgrade to Flash 9 immediately upon it's release. Likely the AS3 Preview will disappear off of labs as soon as Flash 9 ships.) Lastly, Flash and Flex play to completely different audiences. Flex barely steps on Flash's turf, if at all. For instance you ask "What if anything will I lose by switching to Flex?" Well for starters: drawing tools, timeline, swf's under 119KB. Flash developers who do crossover work in Flex offer customization options that straight Flex developers can not. But if Flex Framework components do not address your requirements, then you may have little or no need to commit any of your time or $$ to Flex. Following are links to some well enunciated observations about Flex from a pair of powerhouse Flash developers: Jesse Warden and Grant Skinner. Flash Components vs. Flex Components www.jessewarden.com/archives/2006/09/flash_component.html Flex 2 from a Flash Developer's Perspective www.gskinner.com/blog/archives/2006/07/flex_2_from_a_f.html Flex Seminar Presentation, Flex and Flash, Online http://www.jessewarden.com/archives/2006/09/flex_seminar_pr.html (see especially the link for Jesse's "Using Flash & Flex Together" presentation which streams off the net here: http://www2.sys-con.com/webinararchive.cfm?registered=on&pid=wc_rwf6_s06warden I saw Jesse's deliver a later version of this presentation at MAX and it should be required viewing for Flash developers thinking about Flex) btw ... if you want an idea of why Flex even exists, check out under the heading "We Call This 'The Timeline.' No, Wait, Come Back!" from what I still think is the classic explanation from Flash powerhouse Nigel Pegg: www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/articles/flash_perspective.html I hope that some or all of this helps. If you (or others reading this) do do some crossover work in Flex, please post back with your impressions and insights. hth, g On 11/26/06, Millie Niss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Am I the only one on this list who (still) uses the Flash IDE (Flash 8 Pro) and hasn't migrated to AS 3.0 or any version of Flex? I am interested in both but do not want to fork over any more $$ to ex-Macromedia. (I feel cheated by having paid for many versions of the educational versions because they don't upgrade then many versions of full software because the Macromedia packages I had didn't have an upgrade path to the newer bundled Adobe products such as Creative Suite 2 or the Adobe Video Bundle.) What is the minimum cost to start using Flex? (I mean in a production version. I do not want to start using a beta or a trial of something and then have it break and be stuck.) What are the ongoing costs to deploy Flex apps? I have looked at the website but found it confusing and they keep changing pricing... I want a rough idea of what it actually costs developers to switch to Flex and deploy the apps etc. What if anything will I lose by switching to Flex? I use the Flash IDE a lot for design now but most projects have extensive coding as well. Can I use Flex for the code and still use the IDE for design?
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