Does (embedded) SWF notify the user if they need to upgrade Flash?

if the swf is for flash player 9 but the user only has playe开发者_StackOverflow社区r 8 installed, will the user get an option to upgrade his player automatically?

Short answer: yes!

I think since Flash Player 7 Macromedia added Express Install and the Flash Player Detection Kit. You can read more about that in this old article http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/express_install.html.

Easiest way these days is using swfobject. There are even code generator in plain html or air.

The idea is, you have an expressInstall.swf which handles the install and a bit of javascript that does the detection and all that. SWFObject already has that built-in, just check the Express Install option in the generator.

HTH