Flash playback issues reported on Apple's new 27-inch iMacs

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  • Reply 21 of 108
    There are a significant number of technical issues with Flash and 64 bit Mac OS X. Most of these can be attributed to the fact that the Flash Plugin is 32 bit only, and a lot of the OS under 10.6 runs 64 bit.



    Apple had to pull off some fairly complex engineering trickery to host 32 bit Flash in 64 bit webkit / Safari. Flash actually runs "out of process" in its own 32 bit process space - the upside to this being that if Flash crashes it does not take down the entire browser just itself. The downside, there is significant overhead passing bits back and forward to let Flash Draw inside webkits 64 bit image space. And surprise - there are some bugs too.



    Some of the bugs are being addressed by Apple in upcoming OS patches, but Adobe is incredibly opaque as far a timeframe for a 64 bit flash plugin for mac goes...



    Its not clear why this would be a 27" iMac issue in particular, but there are a LOT of issue still to be addressed in the 64 bit OS.
  • Reply 22 of 108
    I can't seem to get ANY virtual machine to run for long before they begin to use 100% of one of my CPUs. I've tried VMWare Fusion, Parallels, and Virtual Box. All seem to eventually max my CPU and stop working or work VERY slowely. I have to resort to booting into my Boot Camp partition to work in Windows XP. I only need XP to use Remote Desktop Connection for remote connection to work. Does anyone know of a MAC client I can use for this, that supports Terminal Services Gateway?
  • Reply 23 of 108
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DESuserIGN View Post


    Pfft!

    I have experienced problems with Flash on ALL computers!

    Big surprise. It's a POS that should be banished from the web.

    Generally I find that the problems most closely correlate to the limitations of the server, bandwidth problems, or poor implementation of the controls in the web site.

    Of course this is independent of any temporary problems that may be occurring with the new iMac.



    LOL....The light bulb just went on for me in a small sense....Flash has about 93% penetration on the web which probably accounts for millions of computers, but, you have experienced problems with Flash on ALL computers....the data says to me that ALL your computers are crappy...LOL



    Adobe has an extremely talented group of programmers...they know whats going on, CS5 allows for Flash developers to create native iPhone apps that can be posted to the app store...this is Huge! With your mentality, you'd probably say were gonna get crappy apps, but remember, there are already many crappy apps posted to the app store....so don't continue your blind bias in the future and stereotype all bad iPhone apps to Flash...but good news for you, you won't be able to buy a crappy iPhone like the crappy computers you bought in the past.
  • Reply 24 of 108
    drdbdrdb Posts: 99member
    "Flash on Mac OS X sucks hard."



    I think you could shorten that to 'Flash sucks hard' and be done with it
  • Reply 25 of 108
    The Flash plugin is pretty slow and unstable. When somewhere in a tab or in a window flash "locks" You can only close Safari and reopen it. Otherwise you'll see all cores "at the limit".



    My "solution" was to install ClickToFlash (actual 1.6b2 64Bit) in order to avoid some animations running in the background. Additionally You can play the h.264 version of a video if it's available on e.g. Youtube.



    I hope flash 10.1 will be better. I really understand that Apple doesn't like to have flash on the iPhone at the moment.



    Before my switch to the Mac I even developed some small Flash Projects and I loved it.



    Today I reinstalled my CS3 because I installed a SSD in my MBP.

    I disabled Flash in the install options...



    I really hope Adobe and Apple can work together on this "long term issue".



    But in this case I think there's an additional problem with some drivers especially those of the new ATI 4670. A lot of reports seem to point on this.
  • Reply 26 of 108
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,860member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tundraBuggy View Post


    so don't continue your blind bias in the future and stereotype all bad iPhone apps to Flash...



    It's not that all bad iPhone apps will have been created using Flash, but I expect most Flash based iPhone Apps to be bad, assuming Apple approves them. It's not like creating an iPhone app in Objective-C is rocket science, so the only reason to use Flash is because you don't know anything about creating iPhone apps and don't want to learn. Usually a recipe for a bad app.
  • Reply 27 of 108
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by heathsnow View Post


    I can't seem to get ANY virtual machine to run for long before they begin to use 100% of one of my CPUs. I've tried VMWare Fusion, Parallels, and Virtual Box. All seem to eventually max my CPU and stop working or work VERY slowely. I have to resort to booting into my Boot Camp partition to work in Windows XP. I only need XP to use Remote Desktop Connection for remote connection to work. Does anyone know of a MAC client I can use for this, that supports Terminal Services Gateway?



    Do you mean MS-Remote Connections? If yes, have you tried the MS tool?



    http://www.microsoft.com/mac/product...p/default.mspx
  • Reply 28 of 108
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    AI isn’t the best site for benchmarking reviews. I wish they would consolidate a bunch of the more reputable sites results into an article, like they do with analysts.



    AI doesn't do benchmarks that I remember. They usually reference other site's benchmarks.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tundraBuggy View Post


    LOL....The light bulb just went on for me in a small sense....Flash has about 93% penetration on the web which probably accounts for millions of computers, but, you have experienced problems with Flash on ALL computers....the data says to me that ALL your computers are crappy...LOL



    Adobe has an extremely talented group of programmers...they know whats going on, CS5 allows for Flash developers to create native iPhone apps that can be posted to the app store...this is Huge! With your mentality, you'd probably say were gonna get crappy apps, but remember, there are already many crappy apps posted to the app store....so don't continue your blind bias in the future and stereotype all bad iPhone apps to Flash...but good news for you, you won't be able to buy a crappy iPhone like the crappy computers you bought in the past.



    Flash is worse on OS X, but it's inefficient on Windows too, on 3GHz Xeon computers, or any computer for that matter. If they made it more efficient, it would benefit everyone regardless of computer capabilities, more so on notebooks because loading up generates heat and drains batteries. I think flash conversion to iPhone has a chance to do pretty well, just by the fact that it has to be native code. Flash on the web is interpreted code. I understand that Adobe has talented programmers, but I think it may well be the management that won't allow those programmers put much time into making their plug-in code interpreter more efficient.
  • Reply 29 of 108
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post


    It's not that all bad iPhone apps will have been created using Flash, but I expect most Flash based iPhone Apps to be bad, assuming Apple approves them. It's not like creating an iPhone app in Objective-C is rocket science, so the only reason to use Flash is because you don't know anything about creating iPhone apps and don't want to learn. Usually a recipe for a bad app.



    Not necessarily true...and unfortunately your thoughts on this are not only arrogant, but also ignorant. Personally, I program for microcontrollers and DSP devices using assembler and the HiTech C compiler.....the Flash model is an incredible approach because it allows you to handle graphical timeline based movies as objects within the environment. Being able to animate all of your graphics within a timeline and then encapsulate it and furthermore abstract it into the object -oriented realm is really a joy to work with. In a sense, it is much like the Xcode/Interface Builder model.



    You have not even seen what someone might develop for the iPhone using Flash, so how can you make such a biased assumption. There are some incredible Flash programmers and Flash creations, unfortunately, you have made your decision about Flash based on bad ads and websites.
  • Reply 30 of 108
    povilaspovilas Posts: 473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by drdb View Post


    "Flash on Mac OS X sucks hard."



    I think you could shorten that to 'Flash sucks hard' and be done with it



    I guess I could.
  • Reply 31 of 108
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,860member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tundraBuggy View Post


    You have not even seen what someone might develop for the iPhone using Flash, so how can you make such a biased assumption.



    It's not arrogant or a biased assumption at all, and it has nothing to do with the fact that they are specifically Flash developers.



    Just look at all the horrible ports of software from one platform to another where the developers can't be bothered to learn native development but use some sort of porting tool, or learn the bare minimum and just do a transliteration from one platform to another. Not learning and understanding the platform you are developing on and it's native API is always a recipe for disaster, just like not learning and understanding French would be a disaster when translating, say, Shakespeare's Sonnets from English to French, but just running it through a translation tool. The author was obviously quite talented, and they are great literature in English, but I don't think the resulting French version would be well received.
  • Reply 32 of 108
    povilaspovilas Posts: 473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tundraBuggy View Post


    you have made your decision about Flash based on bad ads and websites.



    OK, show me good ads and websites, maybe it's just me living in another universe.
  • Reply 33 of 108
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,860member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Some users of the new 27-inch iMac have expressed issues with the hardware, specifically stuttering when playing back Flash content on Apple's new desktop system.



    Of course, for those using ClickToFlash, this won't really be a problem at all.
  • Reply 34 of 108
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by fishstick_kitty View Post


    Photoshop is alright :-) ...



    I used to be in this camp (Adobe is generally crap but PhotoShop is okay), but I don't think even this is true anymore.



    Even the simplest jobs in Photoshop change workflows completely from version to version. Try to make a Targa file with an alpha channel. The process in CS2 fails in CS3 until you figure out how to do it the "new way," then that way fails in CS4 until you figure out the "new new" way.



    I'm also really getting frustrated by the continued refusal to use standard Apple shortcuts. "Cmd-H" hides every Mac application except Adobe's apps, "Cmd-0" sets every Mac application to "actual pixel size" except Adobe's stuff. And the list is a lot longer than that. It's just infuriating nonsense IMO.



    It's still got a slight edge on it's competitors like Pixelmator, but PhotoShop really a confusing pile of dog doo-doo at this point. And that's speaking from someone who's used it since version 2.0 on an almost daily basis (well weekly anyway).



    The first real good alternative that comes along I'm jumping ship.
  • Reply 35 of 108
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Magic_Al View Post


    I'd blame Adobe and/or lack of Apple-Adobe communication. Another example, right now you have to run Snow Leopard's Safari in 32-bit mode if you want to use the Adobe Reader plugin for PDFs (necessary to get some fill-in forms to display and print properly). Adobe's not keeping up.



    Unless you are running bare bones though, you have to run Safari in 32 bit mode anyway. I can't think of a single plug-in that's 64 bit yet. So if you have any at all, you need to go 32 bit.
  • Reply 36 of 108
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by heathsnow View Post


    I can't seem to get ANY virtual machine to run for long before they begin to use 100% of one of my CPUs. I've tried VMWare Fusion, Parallels, and Virtual Box. All seem to eventually max my CPU and stop working or work VERY slowely. I have to resort to booting into my Boot Camp partition to work in Windows XP. I only need XP to use Remote Desktop Connection for remote connection to work. Does anyone know of a MAC client I can use for this, that supports Terminal Services Gateway?



    All I can say is it shouldn't do this. I use VMWare and it doesn't exhibit this behaviour at all. I've never seen it on anyone else's installation of VMWare either.
  • Reply 37 of 108
    Had the new 27" iMac for a week now with no problems, flash or otherwise. In fact, I just got an EyeTv adapter yesterday and now use it as a television too!
  • Reply 38 of 108
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cinder View Post


    I've actually experienced some pretty poor Flash performance on my new Macbook Pro



    My guess is two fold:

    1. Flash on OS X sucks



    Yes and it sucks even more on Linux. Clearly ADOBE doesn't care.

    Quote:

    2. Apple is pissed about Flash being so poorly built that they're refusing to spend dev hours fixing issues they run into with it - OR it's simply very, very low on their priority list.



    It really isn't up to Apple to fix! the code is owned and supported by ADOBE, if you want better Flash on the Mac you have to convince ADOBE that it is in their best interest to put some effort into it.



    As a long time Linux user there is a better way though. Simply don't use Flash! That may be shocking to some but you can get traction if you make a point to E-Mail business sites with unacceptable amounts of Flash content. Simply tell them they are loosing money, due to the use of questionable amounts of Flash on their web site. That should quickly lead to at least a minimization of Flash content on their site.



    Carbon copy ADOBE while you are at it. There is nothing worst for a company than seeing its revenue streams dry up.



    Dave
  • Reply 39 of 108
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ranson View Post


    Had the new 27" iMac for a week now with no problems, flash or otherwise. In fact, I just got an EyeTv adapter yesterday and now use it as a television too!



    I'm wondering if this is the result of people simply not updating their machines often enough. I make it a point to run Apple update at least twice a week and do updates for other apps, plugins and the like at least once a week. Hardly a week goes by where there is not an app or something with a waiting update.



    For example today I logged in and updated iTunes, the Aquamacs, Lyx and Skim. That doesn't even include the Firefox update from yesterday or the documentation update for XCode that I got yesterday.



    In any event I simply haven't seen the issues described in these threads. Note that that doesn't mean people aren't having issues just that if they are they need to look into it themselves and come up with a solution. For many people ClicktoFlash is a solution, the reality even when "it works" flash sucks resources. Also I hate to say this but flash sucks on Windows too.



    Dave
  • Reply 40 of 108
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DominoXML View Post


    Do you mean MS-Remote Connections? If yes, have you tried the MS tool?



    http://www.microsoft.com/mac/product...p/default.mspx



    Remote Desktop Connection for Mac doesn't cut it since it doesn't support the TS Gateway settings
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