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Please introduce yourself (name, where you come from, age, job).

My name is Alexandre Balaban, and I live in Nantes, France. I'm 26 years old and I work as a computer engineer-consultant for a french software firm based in Nantes.

How long are you an Amiga user and which Amiga system do you have/use?

My first Amiga (which was also my first computer was an Amiga 500 in 1987. Then in 1995, I've bought a 1200 which is always my current machine... But since I've added a Blizzard PPC 603 (68040), 128 Mo Fast and a BVision, an IDE CD-Rom, an internal Zip drive, a Squirrel SCSI interface, all this in a custom tower.

When did you take over the swf-player sourcecode by Paul Hill?

It's a long time I planned to take over the swf-player development, however, never find enough time (or maybe interest). But this summer, I've really done it, updating code to support the latest libflash by Olivier Debon.

How can one use the player with an Amiga browser? How does it work?

For now, swfplayer is a standalone player, it can be used with almost all Amiga browsers supporting external plugin. In fact all you have to do is to configure a new Mime type in your browser (I use "APPLICATION/x-shockwave-flash" with "swf" suffix, but may be there is better one .

Which Shockwave/Flash version is swfplayer supporting?

Currently swfplayer supports upto flash v4, but may be libflash can be updated to support newer version.

Will swfplayer support Flash5 or even FlashMX movies?

If someone has enough details on the new tags added, why not... But for now, I must admit, I did not work deep enough into libflash to tell if such additions is possible or not.

What have you planned for future releases?

For now, not so many things, as I want to know if this version is at least at the same level as Paull's version. But I've found some strange behaviour, and I'll try to identify if they come from the new libflash or from the changes I've made in the code. I've also planned to make a plugin for AWeb, but before I should understand libflash in deep.

Which CPUs are supported?

For now, only 68k from 020 upto 060 (but it only a compilation flag and did not test it on something other than 040

Do you plan to support MorphOS aswell?

I personnaly don't have Morphos, however with an appropriate compiler (and environnement) a Morphos version should be no problem.

Do you plan to support Amithlon in any way (by using x86 routines)?

I don't have any PC at home (and don't plan to have one), so I don't know how I can do that Sorry folks !

Is swfplayer portable enough in your opinion so that use in AmigaOS.4.0 will be possible?

Yes, of course and AmigaOS 4.0 will certainly be supported when it'll be out as I plan to upgrade.

Which Amiga magazines (online/printed) do you like?

In fact, I don't read many Amiga magazines on a regular basis (in France there is no more printed Amiga magazine (except some fanzines), but I read news on some sites like Amiga-news.de and of course GFX-Base (also on Amigaimpact.com, french only).

What do you think about the current Amiga situation (Amiga ONE, MorphOS, AmigaOS, etc.)

IMHO, concurrency would between OS4 and Morphos should have be good if it could have made Amiga Inc react more rapidly, seeing Morphos team progress. I think they should concentrate on the development rather than to start actions in law...

Your opinion on the Amiga community?

Smaller and smaller, we need new machine and new OS before we completly dissappear !

What do you love to do in your free-time? (hobbies, etc.)

I like using my Amiga, reading some SF books, and also spending cool times with my girlfriend.

OK, Thanx for the interview, Alexandre!:)