In 1995, a small software start-up, FutureWave Software Inc., decided to add animation capabilities to its pen-based computing graphics package. The advent of the plug-in application programming interface for Netscape Communications Corp.'s browser enabled it to achieve decent performance, and FutureSplash Animator was brought onto the market in 1996. Its timing was good, and two important and developing Web sites adopted the new animation technology -- Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Disney Online.

The Walt Disney Co. was also working with Macromedia's Shockwave package, and it was through Disney that Macromedia learned enough about the compact animation tool to want it for itself. In December 1996, FutureWave Software was sold to Macromedia, and FutureSplash Animator became Macromedia Flash 1.0.

Flash has since become synonymous with Internet animation, and its creator, Jonathan Gay, opines that Flash Player may now be the Internet's most widely distributed piece of software, with more users than Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator and Real Player.

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