Flash 6 FPS Tests

I was able to run some quick non-scientific frame rate tests comparing the Flash 5 browser plug-in to the new Flash 6 public beta plug-in, and the news is good, especially in OSX.

I ran these tests on my portfolio site using the FPS tester Extension, a free smart clip available at the Macromedia Exchange for Flash. The page has instructions on what to do with it after downloading.

The actual frames per second (not the set frame rate of the movie, which was 50fps) for version 5.0 under Internet Explorer in OS 9 was between 8-12 fps. With the version 6.0 plug-in running, Internet Explorer in OS 9 bumped to 16-20 fps.

Internet Explorer for OS X (which for those of you who don't know, is a totally different build than the one in OS 9) returned even more favorable results -- 20-23 fps. May not seem like a lot, but the site "feels" smoother, and the interaction isn't as sticky.

Now for some bad news. Netscape 6 is horrible. The same plug-in was only able to achieve between 7-8 fps running the exact same movie.

But hey, the whole world runs IE, right?? ;)

Anyway, in general the news looks good, especially since this is only a public beta build of the plug-in. It's a very, very good sign that the OS X build of version 6 runs faster than OS 9.

Onward and upward.