The best thing about the two importers is that they appear to work in a remarkably similar way, presenting an identical dialogue and sharing features like providing specific import options for different types of layers (image, text etc...), and the option to convert layers to keyframes. The Illustrator importer isn't 100% perfect but it's way better than the alternatives used in the past and it also has the good grace to provide an 'Incompatibility Report' when features from Illustrator cannot be imported.

For the programatically inclined (me!), Flash CS3 supports ActionScript 3.0, the first time this has happened in a release of Flash. ActionScript 3.0 is a stronger 'typed', more efficient language than ActionScript 2.0, largely thanks to the new ActionScript Virtual Machine 2 (AVM2). This means that web applications can now expect to be a little further reaching in terms of functionality, and less prone to error. Another boon for the developer are the changes made to the Actions panel. More and more meaningful error messages at compile-time make for more robust code, and the Compilation Errors panel also supports the ability to double-click directly to the offending line of code.

The Actions panel is also sporting an interface that is closer in appearance and functionality to the Code window in Dreamweaver, with the ability to show/hide blocks of code, and some extra toolbar buttons for adding and removing comment blocks and such. One of my favourite features as far as coding goes is the appearance of a 'Target' selection box when editing an ActionScript class file. The ability to select a compilation target means that it is no longer necessary to switch back to the Flash Document that is loading your class in order to test your changes. It is simply a matter of choosing the target document and publishing away. Oh the speed of it all...

One thing that might be nice to see here is extending Flash's XML awareness. More and more people are using XML to control various aspects of their Flash based projects nowadays, it would be great to see some simple things like syntax highlighting, pretty printing and checking for well formed tags included directly into Flash when opening an XML file, but this is a minor concern as there are many applications around that can provide that functionality very cheaply, if not for free.

Another new feature is the ability to copy, import or export a motion tween as a chunk of XML that can be used elsewhere in the code, saved out to XML and imported later, or dropped into an AS3 class. Motion can also be copied as ActionScript, which essentially does the same thing but wraps the XML data in some extra code that makes it animate. This is a really interesting feature and whilst I'm yet to have found an overwhelming need for this kind of facility, it does certainly seem to have a fair amount of potential.

Adobe have also dramatically changed the way components are skinned, making it as simple as double-clicking on a component instance on the Stage to edit it's various states. This is a massive bonus compared to the old way of skinning components and should mean that creating nice looking applications no longer requires re-inventing the wheel. Fully functional custom-designed scrollbar anyone? I know I've skinned that little guy more than a couple of times with all kinds of confusing drama, but now it is dead easy.