For the first time since 2007, Adobe has updated its Air platform, released recently in beta with a slew of new features. The features include support for detection of mass storage devices, advanced networking capabilities, ability to open a file with its default application, improved cross-platform printing, and a bunch of other things that you probably won’t really notice in any other way other than your Adobe working significantly more efficiently and smoothly than before.
The 2.0 version of Air also will be able to support HTML5 and CSS3, due to an upgrade of its WebKit. Developers will also be happy to know that they can create Air applications that can be installed through a native installer.
Air’s changes have seen it morph into something of an ‘operating system sitting on an operating system’. According to one review: “The ‘write once run anywhere’ ideal is becoming increasingly exciting. With Air and the increasing number of browser-based apps out there it’s becoming increasingly irrelevant what OS you’re running.”
Another review praises Air 2.0 for hogging less memory (anyone who’s every cringed at having to open up a PDF file for fear that it will slow their system down to a snail’s pace will appreciate this one).
Adobe released this latest model of its Air platform in conjunction with a new version of its Flash Player (this one is model 10.1). The two programs both run on Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux. Flash Player 10.1 features support for audio input, which PC World speculates is likely meant to act as a bridge for Flash 10.1 web applications that are tailored for cell phone use.
Another nice improvement is that Flash will no longer simply crash if it experiences a memory overload – but will instead shut itself down and ask the browser to restart.
PC World’s review expresses a concern for the new Flash’s lack of stability, and isn’t as compatible with Mac OSX (it does, however, appear to work quite well on Hackintoshes, according to one reviewer, who said his HD Flash video had become almost watchable using the new player….I don’t know if this is something its makers had intended it for). That said, the magazine praises Air 2.0, which appears to take advantage of Mac OSX’s capabilities in a most efficient manner.
So what’s the big deal with Air 2.0? Basically, the reviews are in, and it’s quite a powerful platform. But it is the applications that will be created for it (which are now much easier to create) that will be truly exciting. And for those, we just have to sit and wait to see what comes out.
Kaila Krayewski is a freelance journalist with a passion for all things internet. Having worked for nearly two years as the public relations manager for an internation search engine optimization company, and publishing hundreds of articles (how-to, informational, and otherwise) on SEO, she knows a thing or two about the field. Furthermore, having just started up her own website blondetraveler.com, she is doing her best to keep one step ahead of the search engines in order to keep the traffic flowing.
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