Out there in
WWW there are thousands sites using flash for their needs. But majority sites are not in this list. Let's summaries some facts about flash usage on YOUR web site. After that it's you will have to decide: to use or not to use. There are some facts about Macromedia Flash Technology: The First Fact: Sites are look much prettier and professional with flash animation on their pages if animation done by professionals. Users sometimes visit sites only to see flash intro if it's done in some original manner.
The Second Fact: Flash Source Scripts cannot be stolen unlike Java Scripts or HTML code. Flash files come in "two" pieces: files with .fla extension are actual source and .swf files are compiled version of these files. In browsers you can see only .swf files. However I’ve already seen some “swf scanners” . Those programs let you see action script coding used in flash movie.
The Third Fact: Flash animation files are slow to download and require flash player plug-in . Regular static graphic requires less time to download. In a couple of years when problem of dial-up connection may be solved and fast DSL lines will be cheap and available for anyone this problem may seem not so serious, but so far we must consider this aspect, as not all users are eager to wait for a minute or two to see your flash intro. That's one of main reason flash is not popular on big corporate sites (but Yahoo for example displays fast loading flash advertisements on their pages)
The Fourth Fact: Not all browser compatible with flash players. The old versions of MS Explorer and Netscape Navigator cannot display flash movies. There is a solution however: to use Java Script to check compatibility of browser and display static image if player is not available for that browser. Well there is some issue still left with browsers who cannot understand Java Scripts but there are few people who use those browsers these days…but you must keep that in mind.
