Monday, June 11th, 2007
Adobe AIR: Fresh name for Apollo
I personally like Apollo, and it had already built recognition, but it is now called Adobe Air.
What is new in the Air beta?
New features in the Adobe AIR beta include an embedded local database, PDF support, enhanced capabilities for JavaScript developers, and deeper integration with Adobe Flex.
The new beta version of Adobe AIR allows developers to incorporate PDF by leveraging Adobe Reader® 8.1 functionality. Users will be able to view and interact with PDF documents within Adobe AIR applications similarly to how they interact with a PDF in the browser today. New capabilities such as support for transparent HTML windows, drag and drop support, and complete access to Adobe AIR and Flash APIs allow Ajax developers to create truly engaging desktop applications. Developers building Adobe AIR applications can use the Ajax frameworks of their choice, and the latest version of WebKit incorporated into Adobe AIR beta provides more components than were previously available in Apollo alpha. The embedded, cross-platform, open source SQLite local database was one of the most requested features from the Apollo alpha release. It requires no extra setup while providing large data capacity and full text search, enabling Web developers who traditionally rely on a database for storage to easily build desktop applications without changing existing techniques. Additionally, a tool is now available on Adobe Labs for Dreamweaver® CS3 that enables Dreamweaver projects to be delivered as Adobe AIR applications.
AIR = Adobe Integrated Runtime
Adobe Reader is slow and bloated and now it’ll be incorporated into Apollo?
As far as I see, the pdf class won’t be imported at application startup, it’s going to be imported on demand. In other words, you open up a pdf document, the app becomes bloated and slow.
Just stay away from PDFs, what’s the big deal? If something, this is good news.
No linux support, it sucks! Use xulrunner!
Use the current Adobe Reader… much faster.
Adobe Reader contains *many* abilities. If you just want to read simple documents, without the errors found in other PDF renderers, then try Adobe Digital Editions:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/digitaleditions/
As FAQ states, Linux is definitely a target, but won’t have the interim, proofing builds found in majority platforms.
The current 8.1 Reader can be driven around by desktop Ajax via AIR… digital signatures, 3D model inspection, approvals, lots more.
jd/adobe
“the errors found in other PDF renderers… ”
What errors are you talking about? I use Foxit and haven’t had a single problem. It is really quick and efficient. I am afraid you are just saying this to justify the slow performance of Adobe reader. FYI ” many other abilities” for a software that is supposed to primarily let you read a document means it is bloated.
“I use Foxit and haven’t had a single problem. It is really quick and efficient. I am afraid you are just saying this to justify the slow performance of Adobe reader.”
Bad imputation there. PDF has been a well-documented format for years, so it’s relatively easy to write a renderer for the simpler profiles. Do a search on terms like “foxit problems” if you’d like an itemization.
jd/adobe
“Do a search on terms like “foxit problems†if you’d like an itemization…”
How about running a search on “Adobe Reader problems”?!
Results 1 – 10 of about 318,000 for foxit problems. (0.25 seconds)
Results 1 – 10 of about 42,900,000 for adobe reader problems.
I believe the correct term is pwned
Man, I wish Foxit evangelists had more logic available to them, less brand-identification…. ;-)
jd
If you’re interested in AIR, check out the the first and largest AIR community forums:
http://www.codeapollo.com
It has plenty of AIR examples, tutorials, and support. Feel free to check it out.
Hey JD, too bad you work for Adobe, otherwise I could’ve believed you were sincere.