Flash Player 10 Beta available
It is official – Flash Player 10 (Astro) is there, and you can download and install it from Adobe Labs.
At a first glance, the most exciting things in the new player are (from my point of view):
3D support. Of course! Adobe says "Complex effects are simple with APIs that extend what you already know" so I guess a Sprite3D is on its way.
Custom filters support with Pixel Bender (formerly known as Hydra). I played with it a little bit a few weeks ago, but now we will be able to actually see it in action in the player. Sweet.
Performance improvement with hardware acceleration.
So be sure to install it, and check out the demos. The source code for the examples is provided too!