Adobe AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) gives programmers the ability to develop (Web) applications that integrate seamlessly with the desktop independently of the underlying operating system. They are known as Rich Internet Applications (RIA) and rely on HTML, CSS, Javascript and Flash. A recent example of a RIA is Photoshop express which entered the beta phase last week: this is a Web-based, feature-stripped offshoot of the Photoshop image manipulation software. The aim is to develop network applications that will run independently of the Internet. The Google Docs online office suite is also a RIA and will be available for offline use in the near future.

The Adobe AIR alpha is available as a free download from Adobe Labs. The software manufacturer has also released an alpha version for Linux of its Eclipse developer tool, Flex Builder. The application gives developers the ability to create Flash applications using special MXML commands without having an editor like Flash CS3 (which is not available for GNU/Linux).

The Linux Foundation reports that Adobe is looking to cooperate more closely with the free operating system, stating that Adobe will be joining the non-profit organization (see the separate news item here.