If you read my “What’s new in Flash Professional 8” article on the Developer Center, you’ll already know what the big new features of Flash Professional 8 are. Here are a few of the lesser-known features that we’ve been able to work in. This is top-of-mind and by no means a comprehensive list. We’ve done a TON of bug fixes and feature enhancements for this release so I can’t remember them all.

Below you’ll find descriptions and screenshots of several of these features…

Script Assist, aka “Normal Mode 2.0″
We’ve completely re-written the old “Normal Mode” feature from Flash MX and earlier and we’re calling it Script Assist. It does everything that Normal Mode used to do plus a lot more. This feature really helps simplify scripting for people who don’t like to hand code their scripts.
script_assist.jpg

Undo/Redo preference
A lot of users complained about the changes made to Undo in the Flash MX 2004 release. So for this release we decided to add a preference so users can switch between document-level undo (Flash MX and earlier Flash MX 2004) and object-level (Flash MX 2004 Flash MX and earlier).
undo_redo.jpg

Enhancements to the Text tool
We enhanced the text tool so you can reflow text from the left-side handles as well as the right side.
text_handles.jpg

Library enhancements
First of all, the library now stays where you left it when you re-launch the application! Woo-hoo! It is also now saved when you create your own custom panel sets. But we didn’t stop there. We also introduced a solution to the, “Oh my God, I have way too many docked library panels right now!” problem by consolidating all open libraries into a single panel that uses a drop down box to switch to a different library. For people who like to have multiple library panels open, however, we still support doing so by using the “Clone” button at the top of the library panel. We also allow you to pin the open library so it does not switch when you tab to a different open FLA file.
library.jpg

Tabbed panels
Panel management is vital to workflow and productivity. In this new release of Macromedia Flash we’ve dramatically improved panel management so you can optimize your workspace to fit the way that you work. Bringing a popular feature of Dreamweaver and Fireworks into Flash, we’ve added the ability group panels together in tabbed-panel sets. Now you can reduce on-screen clutter by grouping your most commonly-used panels together. You can also assign custom names to each panel group.
tabbed_panels.jpg

Stage pasteboard expansion
For projects that require large graphics that extend far beyond the size of the stage in Flash, you can now view objects much further off-stage. To expand the size of the pasteboard, just drag your object close to the edge and it will automatically grow to fit.
pasteboard_expansion.jpg

Bitmap Caching
Rendering of multiple, animated vector graphics can have a really high impact on peformance in the Flash Player. Now users can suppress unneeded re-rendering of vector objects by simply flagging an object as a bitmap. This way the player only needs to move pixels around the screen at every frame interval instead of re-calculating each vector over and over again. Even though the object gets cached as a bitmap, the vector data is still maintained so, at any point, the object can be converted back into a vector again.
bitmap_caching.jpg

SWF Meta-data
To improve searchability of SWFs by Internet search engines we’ve added new metadata properties to the SWF file format. Now Flash authors can add a title and description to their SWF file, allowing search engines to more accurately reflect the content represented by the SWF file.
swf_metadata.jpg

Improvements to radial gradients
This feature provides tighter control over gradients such as changing the focal point of a radial gradient and selecting from different overflow modes.
radial_gradients.jpg

Object-drawing mode
Macromedia Flash has a unique drawing model that thousands of animators have come to know and love. However, designers who are new to Flash and familiar with traditional design tools like Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia Freehand often expect for shapes to be represented as objects when drawn. In this new release of Flash, you can toggle on and off a new “Object Drawing” mode to make the tool work more like the way that you do.
object_drawing.jpg