Detecting Flash4 Compatibility

Now that Flash4 has been shipped and everyone and their dog is running out to get a copy, the web is going to be filled with more 'live' content than ever before (specially since FLASH4 ROCKS!) However, there are a lot of unknowing surfers out there who may be coming to your site without the latest plug-in from Macromedia. No problem, you can test their version with the following JavaScript. Place the following code in the header of your HTML page which houses your shockwave flash file. Users with only the FLASH3 compatible plug-in will be redirected to "olderplug.htm".

var plugin = (navigator.mimeTypes && navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-shockwave-flash"]) ?
navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-shockwave-flash"].enabledPlugin : 0;
if (plugin && parseInt(plugin.description.substring(plugin.description.indexOf(".")-1)) < 4)
{
window.location="olderplug.htm"
} 

Add an ELSE statment to the end of the code and you can even redirect compatible users to a new page. Like this

else {  window.location="flash4Baby.htm"       }

Happy Flashing.