Flash Player 9 is released as a cross-platform runtime which provides improved performance and an enhanced programming model.

Adobe Systems Incorporated recently announced the availability of Adobe Flash Player 9 which provides a more secure, lightweight, robust runtime environment for rich media and enterprise-ready rich Internet applications.

The users of the over 600 million Internet-connected PCs and mobile devices worldwide that use Flash player will notice a growth in performance of up to 10 times thanks to the ActionScript 3.0 and a new ActionScript Virtual Machine (AVM), which features a Just In Time (JIT) compiler that translates ActionScript bytecode to native machine code for maximum execution speed.

Flash Player provides client runtime capabilities for the Adobe Engagement Platform, which delivers a programming model, tools, components, and services that enable designers and developers to create and deliver applications to mass audiences in virtually every medium. The new Flash Player 9 provides new application runtime capabilities for Adobe Flex 2, which in turn provides developers with a comprehensive, integrated set of tools and technology for fast, end-to-end development of web applications.

“Flash Player 9 enables developers to deliver next generation Web applications with its dramatically increased performance and leading edge scripting,” said Kevin Lynch, senior vice president and chief software architect at Adobe Systems. “We look forward to seeing how the community will leverage the newest Flash Player in their innovative work.”

Adobe Flash Player 9 is available for free download from the Adobe’s site and it’s offered for both Windows and Macintosh operating systems.