Interesting point…

That is incorrect. Flex is not a proprietary language, but a framework that with it’s latest version 3, is now completely open sourced. However, Flex creates SWF’s that play in the proprietary Flash player (although the ActionScript Virtual Machine 2 that runs inside the Flash player is now open sourced). Also to further clarify it’s the Flex 3 SDK and compiler that are open sourced. The Flex IDE called Flex Builder is closed sourced (although runs off of the open source IDE Eclipse) and that is where Adobe makes their money. That said you could write ActionScript code (that is the ECMAScript language behind Flash and Flex) and MXML files and create SWF’s with the compiler without using Adobe’s Flex Builder.

Matthew Gertner: “My point about AIR is that, to get the full benefit of that platform, you need to use Flex/Flash. That would be a significant effort if your app is based on HTML/JS.”

Once again that is incorrect. All of the Adobe AIR API is available in HTML/JS without the need for Flash. Any gains made with making a Flash/Flex based application is no different from choosing Flash/Flex over a HTML/JavaScript applicaiton for the web. Or as one user pointed out, no different from creating a Flash/Flex based application for Prism, with Flash sending out commands to JavaScript to take advantage of the Prism hooks.

Currently, Prism just allows you to create a desktop icon and separate memory for the process. Big deal! Its zilch functionality. Maybe when they add the ability to create local applications (JS, CSS, XHTML on the local store); via an installer; that will add value, currently it is largely pointless.

AIR is a whole runtime that can act like an SSB or it can be a whole offline application with no link with the online world. It can be used to create serious desktop applications with alot of APIs.

Google Gears is a very decent web-to-desktop approach. The ability to to have your apps also work offline is a major win. If a serious enough webapp demonstrates this (like an offline google doc), we might start to see a bigger challenge to desktop applications.

I tend to agree with lot of AIR proponents here. Its by far a better way to program a app that needs to be pushed from server while giving local app appearance, richness and storage access.

Air even provides the good old “object oriented” programming (albeit little too limited) which leads to more robust and easy to maintain applications. I suppose thats all too old fashioned when you create a “technology” just to be able to see an icon on an app bar.

I dont even mind AIR being proprietary. My grief is AIR and Flex lack decent of ability to do concurrent execution (threads). They better fix this.

As for someone saying JVM, well this is what Sun should have done long time back. They squandered it.

The Grand Convergence: Web + RIA + Widgets + Client/Server
http://java.sys-con.com/read/516151.htm

@David, expanding the capabilities of the web app itself is a different topic entirely. Take a look at HTML 5, for example, to see work happening in that space. The point of SSBs, in a nutshell, is that the OS is a better receptacle for apps than the browser is.

@smcnally, great question. Specialized browsers like Songbird, Miro, Joost, etc. are a different but related (and fascinating) subject. Maybe Mike will let me do another guest post about that one of these days.

Great post

http://mp3explorer.blogspot.com

My opinion is also in favor of something which is not just a plug-in to the browser, which I think Prism and Gear are.

Adobe’s AIR is more like what I would imagine and would want when I set out to build Rich Internet clients sitting on the desktop (which are independent of the browser).

What we need is perhaps is some equivalent of a JVM for the Internet, sitting on the operating system. Which can provide a sandbox for the web client. So that the client can give a Desktop like feel which Matthew talks of. At the same time it also has the containing /authorizing aspects to prevent against malicious Internet clients.

Is Adobe AIR already something like the above?

Is Sun doing something in this area?

This think could also be led by the OS guys. If we can get a virtual machine, which guarantees compatibility and also a language to build things on. AJAX is simply too containing for this. Anything to do within the browser will also be limiting.