Macromedia

Macromedia, Inc. was an American software company known for multimedia and web development tools. It played a pivotal role in the growth of the CD-ROM multimedia and web design markets during the 1990s and early 2000s. The company was headquartered in San Francisco.

Notable products and platforms included Director (for multimedia applications and CD-ROMs), Shockwave (desktop web player and platform for content delivery), Dreamweaver (web development IDE), Fireworks (graphics app for web designers), Flash (a multimedia platform for creating animations, vector graphics, and interactive content using ActionScript), FreeHand (vector drawing), and ColdFusion (server-side scripting language). The Flash family became the anchor of the company's popularity on the web in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Corporate history and demise: In 2001 Macromedia acquired Allaire, gaining ColdFusion and other server-side tools. In December 2005, Adobe Systems completed its acquisition of Macromedia for about $3.4 billion, absorbing its products into Adobe's portfolio and retiring the Macromedia brand. The Flash Player continued to be widely used until its end-of-life in 2020.

Legacy: Macromedia's software shaped web design, e-learning, and interactive media during its era; the acquisition by Adobe led to the integration of key technologies into Creative Suite products, influencing the direction of web and multimedia development for years.