Is Flash Taking A Back Seat to Flex?

It seems pretty apparent to me. What would make me think this dirty thought?

• Flex, since v2.0 there has been a dot release and 2 hot fixes ( one & two ). The last time there was a dot release or hot fix for flash was for MX2004, a complete debacle of a release, and I think the update was due in part to an overwhelming outcry from the community. If I'm not mistaken this was the first and only update for the Flash IDE.
• It seems as though major Flash Player releases are now timed around Flex releases and not Flash any longer.
• Flash Remoting / Webservice classes and components missing from the latest release and no word or tech notes on their whereabouts, yes i realize you can use NetConnection for Remoting. There is alot of moaning and groaning in forums and listserv's but no answers, JD seems to be on the case though.
• Quite a few components that were shipped with Flash 8 now seem to be missing; Tree, Accordion, Alert, Window, DateChooser / Field, Menu and Menubar. Out of all of these I do miss the Tree most. These components were so very helpful for prototyping. Not to dismiss the fantastic work Grant Skinner and team did on the latest component set, they really are well done and carry a small payload comparatively.
• Adobe Flash Evangelicals, Flex has Ted Patrick. This guy is everywhere, very community driven and focused on getting Flex into the hands of non-flash platform developers and he's doing a bang up job. Flash seems to have lost it's key players like Chambers, Downey and the like. I believe these gents moved onto bigger and better things like AIR, but there doesn't seem to be a replacement for these guys, I could, however, be wrong. If so, their replacements are awfully quiet.
• Apollo / AIR, granted it's now in beta as I write this, but it's only officially supported by Flex. Flash is "in the works" but there is no date set. Fortunately the community, namely Grant Skinner, has stepped up to create the necessary components and hooks to get everything jiving with Flash CS3.
• Validation classes, brings me back to the DRK's ( can't even find these anymore ), there were some great validation classes in one of the DRK's. A friend of mine was just ranting the other day about how Flex has some wonderful validation classes while Flash has none.
• A Flex Wiki with a roadmap?

I'm sure there are many out there like myself who still build applications using Flash. I'm seeing the gap widen when it comes to application development ( Flex ) and the more creative design / animation driven websites ( Flash ), and i only see that gap widening. I do however expect to see some very interesting AIR applications once Flash gets it's little update.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a Flex basher by any means, I've been playing with Flex for a couple of months now and I'm really enjoying it. The community around Flex is similar to what Flash used to be, just take a look at MXNA ( I refresh that thing at least 20 times a day ) or join the FlexCoders list, word of warning, FlexCoders is very high traffic.

Honestly, I'm not angry, but I am concerned. I use Flash every day at work, it's the main reason I'm still there. I will, however, continue to explore new and different technologies as that's what I need to do in order to survive. I wouldn't be in this business to begin with if that wasn't intriguing to me. It just seems that the latest release of CS3 came and went with little to no fan fare.

But I do feel for my first born Flash, whom I've watched grow since I started working in the interactive field 7 years ago and it seems as though she's being pushed aside in lieu of her little brother who's growing quickly and getting more attention. As a good parent I'd just like to see both kids treated equally.