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Flash Player Detection Techniques Unearthed

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Conclusion

We've covered five major Flash Player detection methods here, each with varying degrees of complexity and browser support. In addition to this, we've investigated some useful ways of making the detection process both transparent to our end users and degradable for those without the Flash Player.

In writing the article I was surprised at how important the role standards support played in building more elegant version detection methods than client side scripting.

If Internet Explorer for Windows supported the Object tag to w3c recommendation and sent its HTTP-ACCEPT header correctly, we would find detection methods such as tag nesting and server side detection far more enticing to implement, which would lead to lighter markup and smarter Flash support.

Unfortunately, the monopoly this browser has in the market leaves us with client side scripting as currently the most robust detection method to use across sites for the general public.

To further other, more elegant detection scenarios I would recommend Flash developers investigate server side detection, inbuilt version detection and tag nesting, as discussed in the article.

I would also recommend developers and designers start employing the object tag-based markup used in this article and others, discarding the embed tag. Dealing with one tag only for deploying Flash files does assist in controlling the Player download and brings detection within your control, rather than handing it to whatever browser the visitor uses.

The more Web developers and designers start pushing for better browser support, the faster we will be able to implement smarter, less bloated Flash Player detection scenarios for the majority of users.

Footnote – Flash Player 7 Beta

As this article was completed, Macromedia released a beta version of Flash Player 7. At first glance, there are numerous additions in this Player including a new Flash Player Update Mechanism (currently only for Internet Explorer browsers running on Windows). For more information on this beta Player visit http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/public_beta/