"Macromedia Labs represents an important shift in our development process, and is a great opportunity for developers to participate early in the rapid innovation of new technologies," said Kevin Lynch, chief software architect, Macromedia, as Macromedia here at MAX 2005 in Anaheim, CA, announced Macromedia Labs, a new site on macromedia.com for developers to download early versions of Macromedia technologies.

Beginning today – Day One of Macromedia MAX 2005 – developers going to Macromedia Labs can download the public alphas of Macromedia Flash Player 8.5 and Macromedia Flex Builder 2, part of the Macromedia Flex 2 product line announced earlier this month.

The Flex 2 product line and Flash Player 8.5, said Lynch, "are the foundation for building effective rich Internet applications that blend the responsiveness of desktop software, the cross-platform reach of the web, and the breathtaking expressiveness of the Flash Platform."

The aim of Macromedia Labs is  to enables developer to help shape development, provide feedback sooner, and begin to build expertise and reputation within the broader community. Documentation, samples, and technical articles, says Macromedia, make it easy to get up to speed quickly. Forums and wikis encourage discussion and collaboration, while podcasts and chats give everyone insight and updates in a casual developer-to-developer format. RSS notifications enable developers to stay current with Macromedia Labs activities. Developers can inspire their peers by sharing their work based on these early releases in the Showcase Gallery.

As part of the Macromedia Labs debut today, developers can download an alpha release of Flex Builder 2 and Flash Player 8.5.

Flex Builder 2 is a new Eclipse-based environment for developing rich Internet applications and includes the Flex Framework. Previously code-named Zorn, Flex Builder 2 can incorporate rich media content from the recently released Macromedia Flash Professional 8, the leading authoring tool for creating rich interactive content.