So a couple of days ago I was damp with excitement that the new Flash player was on general release.

After testing it for a short while, I'm bone dry again.

It simply doesn't perform anywhere near as well as the beta. My heart's not into comparing it to the last F9 release, it is quicker, but compared to the beta 3 it's a bunch of arse.

This is a real blow. In terms of Orbs it means I'm going to have to cut back on what I was planning, as that was specifically targeting the speed of the beta.

Beta 2 was quicker too, so I don't understand why the final release is slower than the previous 2 beta players which have been around for months. What's more annoying is that I don't understand why adobe would release two beta's with a certain speed, which you would code to and try and take advantage of, if the actual release player isn't going to match it.
It's like test driving a car only to have the engine changed when you actually buy it.

I'm pretty fucked off with this, as we all should be, and I've spent enough energy being annoyed, so if anyone else is interested to take this further, or has some insights into why this is the case, there's a thread on FK games.

Squize.