> --- In [email protected], "hank williams" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > > > So in your mind, Adobe's goal of being cross platform should be > > abandoned since there is no way to do cross-platform COM? Would you > > find it acceptable if it allowed you to do Mac only desktop stuff or > > does windows only compatible == desktop software? > > I think Adobe should provide hooks that allow extension, for instance > by Java. If it so happens that a third-party or homegrown extension > *happens* not to be cross-platform, AIR itself will still be cross- > platform. It shouldn't be Adobe's business to enforce that > everything that could ever be used by AIR would have to be cross- > platform. > > For example, both Authorware and Director (Adobe's desktop > application building programs) are both cross-platform but allow > extension via Xtras and other means. Not all of those Xtras are > cross-platform, but developers still find them incredibly useful, > either because they are only working on one platform or because they > can work around the gap in some other way on the other platform.
You cant really compare AIR to authorware and director. These were both very thinly deployed tools (compared to flash) and they never had runtimes that were, essentially, built into the operating system (as flash effectively is at 98% or 99%). The responsibility that adobe shoulders in making tools that do things like seamlessly download, auto update, etc and dont crash the system are substantial. They cant afford to use their position to facilitate installation of 3rd party DLLs that can easily crash the local system. I think they may eventually add additional layers of access to the system, but I doubt that they will ever go as far as you would like because the responsibility is too great for a browser connected tool. The good news is there are already so many alternatives if all you really want to do is build an exe, such as Zinc, screenweaver hx, etc. There is absolutely nothing standing in the way of making fully functional exes. I am personally happy to trade full system level access in return for having a pre-installed runtime that leverages the seamless flash download and upgrade system. Hank
