APPLE'S QUICKTIME 4 TO SUPPORT MACROMEDIA FLASH
Companies Collaborate to Provide High-Quality Flash Interfaces and Interactive Controls in Streaming QuickTime Movies

Las Vegas, Nev.-National Association of Broadcasters '99 - April 19, 1999 - Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACR) today announced that Apple Computer Inc.'s new QuickTime 4 streaming media technology, the public beta of which was announced today, supports the popular Macromedia Flash (.swf) open file format.

QuickTime 4's support for Flash files means that Web developers can easily incorporate compact, high-quality Flash interfaces into QuickTime movies. Consumers will be able to enjoy lush, streaming audio and video overlayed with state of the art, interactive Flash graphics. Together, QuickTime and Flash provide a richly interactive broadband-quality Web experience.

"We are excited to be working with Apple to build a next-generation platform for streaming Web media," said Norm Meyrowitz, president of Macromedia products. "The results are impressive: high-performance streaming video and audio delivered over the Internet and controlled via sleek Flash interfaces. People have been talking about this kind of Web experience for years. Now it is here."

"QuickTime 4 is the first open standard Internet streaming solution for audio and video," said Phillip Schiller, vice president of product marketing at Apple. "Together, QuickTime 4 and Macromedia's Flash combine to deliver a breakthrough in interactive streaming on the Internet."

Flash is the standard technology for high-impact, vector-based Web page design and a key component of Macromedia's integrated family of award-winning Web publishing software. Together with Macromedia Shockwave, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Generator, FreeHand, and Director, Flash enables Web professionals to create and deliver high-quality, high-impact Internet destinations. Developers can also integrate Apple's QuickTime with Macromedia's Shockwave 7 to create games and online entertainment experiences that combine rich interactivity with streaming video.

The free Flash player is already the Web's most popular interactive media player. A recent survey by research firm King, Brown, & Partners indicated that approximately 77 percent of Web consumers, or more than 100 million people, can currently view Flash content without needing to download a plug-in.

Because the Flash format is vector-based, Flash content is bandwidth efficient and scales automatically to display as designed in any Web browser. The Flash file format (.swf) is an open standard: any software vendor can output Flash files by writing to the specification published on Macromedia's Web site at www.flash.com/open.

More than 100,000 Web designers are now using the Flash authoring software to create distinctive sites. Leading companies whose Web sites build upon the power of Flash include DaimlerChrysler, Pepsi Cola, Cisco Systems, Dreamworks SKG, Braun, and the BBC.

"When we were creating the site to showcase Chrysler's new PT Cruiser, we recommended Flash as the underlying technology," said Dan Stahl, senior interactive production artist in Organic Online's Detroit office. "Chrysler states that PT Cruiser is 'Too Cool to Categorize.' They asked that we express its character through a Web site that transforms factual information into an emotional experience. That meant going beyond static HTML and GIF graphics. Flash did the job—beautifully." The Chrysler PT Cruiser site resides online at www.chryslercars.com/pt_cruiser.

With the built-in Flash support in QuickTime 4, developers will now be able to seamlessly incorporate the fast, attractive interfaces they build in the Flash authoring software with streaming QuickTime video for a next-generation Web experience. For more information on Macromedia Flash, Flash support in QuickTime, or the Macromedia family of Web Publishing software, please visit www.macromedia.com.

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Macromedia, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, FreeHand, Director, Generator, Shockwave, and Shockrave are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc., as indicated. Other company names, brand names and product names may be trademark(s) of others..