Ajax is the future, not Flash. Reason? Ajax does not require any plugins to be installed. All you need is a modern browser, which more people certainly have, than Flash. Also, you need to continuously update Flash - in fact, Macromedia just recently released a new version of Flash a few weeks ago.

Flash is still good for media such as audio and video (my preferred for things that move, such as games, for instance, but I like Quicktime for videos. Flash is probably one of the best for audio as well, though, since it doesn't freeze the browser ), so it won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

But more and more people will soon develop websites in Ajax rather than an entire website in Flash. Why? Because Flash is not indexable by search engines, since the text is contained in the Flash file. It will probably be possible to index the text one day, but for now, it is not. I'm sure Ajax has its own indexing problems, but not as many. Also, Flash is controlled by one company, and in this day and age, this is a no-no :p (At least, for the web Of course there are certain times when a company is better than simply a method or an organization.)

Yes Flash is a great tool and stunning websites can be created using Flash

But will Flash become the leading web tool, I'm not sure only time will tell.

Flash is a great multimedia enhancing tool that has definitely created some visually stunning avenues for true web companies to strut their stuff and show wha the difference is between a so called web designer and a design firm that puts many hours into a design's conception and implementation. I believe whoever designs a drag and drop flash like program that allows for much faster creation of quality flash sites and presentations will bear the title of King. The only drawback to flash is the time it takes to create these visually stimulating works of art. If there is such a product with all the functionality and no loss in quality and flexibility in a WYSIWYG type enviornment please let me know. Thanks.

I think flash is great for smaller sites but when things get big flash takes too long to load. For example, a rock band website, great has all the tools you need loads in a reasonable time and looks much better than a standard web site. But for something like argos or a big shopping website it would take such a long time to load.

I think flash is the future of all personal sites and smaller sites but it just hasn't got what it takes to power big sites.

flash is pretty good for some things, online animation, video, tutorials (vnc2swf etc) but sites that use it for everything are annoying.

if a site makes noise of any kind i leave it, if i cant link to a certain page i won't use/reccomend that site. same goes if cant right click/save as on pictures, or click back and go back.. and sites with intros that you cant skip, or have to watch each time you go there are very annoying.

no point being fancy if there is no substance. ajax is the way forward

A static HTML base version of the flash site with well written content might be better choice. However CSS2 can be also considered a better approach.

One major thing that is keeping Flash back is SEO. I would use Flash a lot more if it could be picked up by search engine more affectively.

Surely flash saying many words in motion, it is effective when it is nicely designed for SE, though depth in content and uniqueness is going to be gold.

As a power user of flash and expert in static sites as well I am in a unique position to answer this. Having spent over 8 years building content driven flash and non-flash sites the answer is hands down flash has nailed it. Too many people are seeing flash as a plug in, instead view it as a browser in itself. As far as takes to long to load I can point you in the direction of non-flash sites that do the same. Flash sites are capable of doing anything non-flash sites can do and then hundreds of times more, the only reason people dont think so is pure ignorance (and quite often fear / stupidity / hate ).

A well coded flash site is scale-able to any size, whats more size in KiloBytes is of no importance. The only difference between the size of a flash and non-flash sites are any multi-media components (images, sounds, movies etc). So the size issue may have been relevant a few years ago when this ground breaking technology was taking off and people did not know how to use it, but it is irrelevant today with so many experts.

finaly comments about versions of flash are ridiculous, what version of Explorer are we at ? What version of html, css, how inane.

The real question is not will flash win (it has already won, some people just cant admit it), but where will it go: hold on.

Flash is going to be the vanguard of online applications (AJAX is for laughs). Full blown online applications such as photoshop, word, whatever you want, is exactly where the future is at, and exactly why adobe purchased the company. Further to this is the fight being taken to Microsoft with flash now being capable of deploying customizable desk top operatining systems, this is why Microsoft is now launching their own fight in this market.
Get with the programme people and leave your prejudices at the door.