Re: Why are "we" still using "flash"
"So what development tools in a Windows environment do you recommend instead?"
A fair question, but I think there is only one answer: HTML5 with gobs of JavaScript.
On the plus side, it exists and has been largely standardised in a public fashion and has multiple implementations (just about, although I think we are down to about three now). Even its limitations can be seen as a plus point if you have reactionary views about "modern" UI design.
On the down side, JS was designed to write handlers for HTML elements and it shows. Anything more than a dozen lines long is using the language beyond what it is suitable for. Much the same could be said for your favourite assembly language: good for a few short routines of pure magic, but only a fool would try to write an entire app in ASM these days. (Then again, as recently as the 1980s people did exactly that quite successfully by taking extreme care.)
But what clinches it for me is that fact that there is nothing else out there. Flash and Java both suffer from being unforgivably dire security nightmares and both suffer from a parent company that refuses to release the design so that anyone else could have a go at fixing it. Therefore, both violate the Hippocratic maxim of "First do no harm.". If you are a programmer writing client-side Java or Flash for other people to run on their machines, shame on you. (And don't be surprised or upset if you find that an ever-growing fraction of your target customers refuse point-blank to consider your product because they have a blanket ban on your chosen platform.)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
