FLASH VS NO FLASH?

Im a novice web designer i have a friend helpin me build a site but we run into a problem whether to use flash on the site or not?the site will be similar to yahoo or msn where you can search the net and also find a variety of information on the site but i know some people dont have flash so will i lose traffic or does it make a difference..any info will be appreciated. thanks in advance for your help!

if you need flash, then use flash. flash is used for special effects ... if you dont really need them ... then don't use flash.
also you can have two versions, a html version and a flash version.

im developeing a website, kinda like a portfolio site to show off some of my images. I want to use Flash and I have some knowledge with it. I have developed a layout in photoshop and was just wandering how to convert the photoshop file into flash... please help!

an example of what I want to do is add rollover effects to the buttons that i created in photoshop, but can i do that with the photoshop image or do i have to create them in flash? and if so how?

Thanks for your comments it makes sense!

@davymacs: save the images from Photoshop either as .jpg, or as .png or .gif ... depends if you need transparency. Then import the images in flash ... the rest is actionscript. Search in the help for MovieClip.onRollOver and MovieClip.onRollOut.

thanks ice cold, i had another tip from a friend to just import the psd file into fireworks and then export to flash which is basically the same as your suggestions. all i gota do now is learn actionscript! lol

use flash all the way, ( if you know how to ) even yahoo is using flash now for their logo
if your not sure how to use flash, e.g file size, load time, incorrect action scripting, etc. stick with the basic and dont use it. you can also spoof i believe what they call it, so if the browser doesnt support flash, it will load your html page instead,