Adobe today announced the immediate availability of Adobe AIR, a new platform for building rich internet applications (RIAs) across different platforms, including Mac OS X.
Adobe AIR enables developers to create RIAs on the desktop using the skills and Web technologies such as HTML, Ajax, PDF, Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex they already employ. Applications deployed on Adobe AIR have the advantages of browser-based RIAs, such as speed of development, ease of use, and access from virtually anywhere. Yet they also have the benefits of desktop applications, such as the ability to read/write local files, work with other applications on a users computer and maintain local data storage on the desktop.
Adobe points out that AIR makes use of various open source technologies including WebKit, the Apple-sponsored rendering engine behind Safari.
Also released is Adobe Flex 3 software which provides a framework for developing applications based on Adobe's Flex and AIR frameworks.
Flex is a free, open source framework for building highly interactive, expressive RIAs. Adobe Flex Builder 3, an Eclipse based development tool, accelerates Flex application development and includes new capabilities for deploying RIAs on Adobe AIR. Adobe Flex Builder 3 integrates with Adobe Creative Suite 3 software making it easy for designers and developers to work together more efficiently. Powerful new testing tools, including memory and performance profilers and integrated support for automated functional testing, speed up development and lead to higher performing RIAs.
The Adobe AIR and Flex SDKs are available as free downloads from Adobe's website and is available for Mac OS X. Commercial versions of Adobe Flex Builder are also available.
