I just discovered that I have both Adobe Flash and Shockwave Flash installed on my XP system. Do I need both of them or do they do essentially the same thing?
If it were me, I would remove shockwave flash & just use flash.
If you find that you do need it, you can always add it back.
I haven't used shockwave in years.
yeah, I finally got around to removing shockwave a few years back, it was used mostly for games I think (pre-zynga/pop-cap revolution)
I also had them both Tom, but binned Shockwave a while back, and don't seem to have hit anywhere since then which needs it.
Shockwave Flash is Adobe Flash Player.
Shockwave Player is a different plugin (Shockwave for Director); very rarely used these days.
Flash & Shockwave are both created by Macromedia, which is owned now by Adobe.
Flash -> Interactive front-end web applications/advertising/short animations.
Shockwave -> Destination web content/product demos/presentations/online shopping carts/multi-user games.
Flash is the faster, sleeker version, & requires less technical know-how to use. Costs less to master (classes/books/teaching programs).
Shockwave is costlier to learn, is more challenging to decode & modify, & requires more expertise. It can also integrate Flash (Flash can't integrate shockwave).
Flash is made through Adobe Flash ($699 USD).
Shockwave is made through Adobe Director ($999 USD).
While they have similarities, the differences are enough that I am glad flash is prevailing over shockwave.