Xtivity = Macromedia Flash MX -Actionscript -Timeline

Xtivity is a new Macromedia Flash (SWF) authoring application which gives less experienced developers and Web designers a quick way to add Flash to their Web sites. There is no coding actionscript, no timeline, no symbols or movie clips to work with.

The software is capable of doing a majority of what Macromedia Flash can do, but with little to no learning curve and is almost half the cost of Flash. Microsoft Office Word files can be imported into the Tivity text editor without loosing the Word formatting.

Xtivity enables users to create interactive media experiences visually as opposed to dealing with the coding involved in creating projects in Flash. Xtivity exports its projects as fully compatible SWF files, and once exported the files are no different than an SWF file exported from Macromedia Flash MX 2004.

Download Xtivity here. Tivity Online Store sells the software at US$399 and it is currently available for the Windows 98/NT/2000/ME/XP platform. (file: http://www.tivity.com/xtivity_trial.exe ~82 MB)

Microsoft is also working on a “flash alternative” called Microsoft Sparkle. More details on Sparkle are expected at PDC 2005.

Xtivity gives you a wealth of creative options for presenting your photos online. Building thumbnail scrollers, photo navigational icons and integrating how images are shown is easy to do with Xtivity. See a xtivity flipbook example.