Project "Pandora" is a next generation development tool currently being developed by MDM. The following FAQs have been prepared to provide MDM Software Users with a brief introduction to Pandora.

What is "Pandora"?

Pandora is the development name for Zinc 3.0.

Zinc 3.0 is a "next-gen" Software that MDM have been working on for over 18 months now (28 months if you include initial R&D) and will be the successor to the current 2.5 version.

An exclusive Preview of the new Pandora GUI has been posted Here.

Previous Information:
2006 and 2007 have been very active years in the IT Industry. Both Windows and Apple have announced major Operating System upgrades, and Flash itself has accelerated from Flash 8 to Flash CS3. In addition, Adobe have introduced Adobe AIR (Formerly Apollo) as their champion to "Flash on the Desktop".

MDM made the decision to monitor the Industry carefully and ensure that Pandora was developed in such a way that we could continue to adapt to the ever changing landscape of Flash and Desktop Applications, whilst continuing to innovate and provide developers with a powerful tool.

When will Pandora be released?

In short, Pandora will be released "when it's ready". However, the current development schedule at MDM is being executed with the intention of a January 2008 Release.

Previous Information:
Pandora was originally scheduled for release in March 2007. However, the MDM Development Team, along with MDM Management, were not entirely happy with certain aspects. For that reason, a large part of Pandora was re-written from scratch. Not only did this cause inevitable delays in the development cycle, but all available MDM resources were re-directed to concentrate on Pandora.

However, the advantage of this reallocation of time and resources is that Pandora will be a much more polished product.

Will a Beta be available for Pandora?

Yes. A Public Beta is now available for download by Regsitered 2.x Users. See Here.

Previous Information:
A Private Beta of Pandora will be taking place in September, October and November, followed by a Public Beta shortly after.

MDM are not currently accepting any more testers for the Private Beta.

Does Pandora have anything to do with Adobe AIR (formerly "Apollo")?

Pandora is the successor to Zinc 2.5 first and foremost. This means that MDM's priority has been to improve and enhance the features and functions of Zinc, whilst innovating in other aspects. Pandora has not been developed as a direct competitor to Adobe AIR.

Previous Information:
Pandora was conceived prior to any announcements about Apollo. However, given the timing and the nature of both products, comparisons with Adobe Apollo/AIR are to be expected.

Pandora is not a Runtime, unlike AIR, but is heavily focused on the development of Flash Applications for the Desktop. Pandora will offer advantages over AIR for Desktop Flash Application Development, just as Zinc does currently.

What can we expect from Pandora/Zinc 3.0?

Pandora will introduce several new features which will be groundbreaking "industry firsts", along with major enhancements to existing functionality.

• Mac OSX Output will now be in Native Universal Binary and optimized for Mac 10.5 "Leopard"
• Windows Projectors will have been specifically optimized for Vista
• Windows & Mac OSX Projectors almost 500% faster than Zinc 2.5 Projectors
• The entire {mdm}Script API will now be 100% Modularized
• Dynamic Form Creation
• An extensive Custom Command SDK will be available for both Windows and Mac OSX Developers
• {mdm}Script 3.0 - Completely re-written from scratch and now Unicode (UTF8/UTF16) Compliant
• {mdm}Script 3.0 - Greater Similarity between Windows & Mac OSX Classes
• Completely New GUI on Windows & Mac OSX - Screenshots available in December 2007!
• Several other "Industry Firsts" to be revealed in December 2007!

What happens next?

The MDM Development Team is currently working on the final list of Issues raised in our Private & Public Beta and preparing a Final Build for Release in January 2008.

For further user discussions on Project Pandora, please visit the MDM Forum at http://www.mdmforum.com

The Information available on this page is currently the only official information available.

For Press Enquiries, please contact pr@multidmedia.com