Adobe AIR 1.5 (”Cosmo”) builds now in Flex SDK Nightly builds
If you check out the Flex SDK nightly builds, then you may have noticed that there are now Adobe AIR 1.5 bits included in the SDK. This is part of the AIR teams ongoing effort to continue to integrate closer into the Flex SDKs build process, and in general to provide more visibility into what is going on with AIR.
As the version number indicates, the Adobe AIR 1.5 release (code-named “Cosmo”) is a dot / incremental release. One of our original goals with AIR has been to update more frequently, as opposed to just having large updates at infrequent intervals. This release focuses on continuing to improve the foundation laid by the 1.0 and 1.1 release, and includes a number of changes and bug fixes, including, but not limited to:
- Flash Player 10 integration, including
- 3D Effects and APIs
- Custom Filters and Effects (Pixel Bender)
- New Text engine (with support for right to left, and vertical text layout)
- Drawing API enhancements
- Updated Saffron engine for font rendering
- Vector data type (typed Arrays)
- Enhanced Sound APIs
- Dynamic video streaming
- and much more
- Integration of the SquirrelFish JavaScript VM into the Webkit HTML engine (should provide significant improvements to JavaScript execution)
- Support for new languages
- Swedish
- Dutch
- Czech
- Polish
- Turkish
- Encrypted Local / SQLite databases
- Lots of bugs fixes and stability improvements, including the uber-annoying
- AIR applications do not use the default browser to launch URLs on Vista
- AIR applications open a new instance of Firefox to handle urls (as opposed to opening a new tab)
Note, that a couple of things from Flash Player 10 may not make the release for AIR 1.5. This includes Mac vector printing, and GPU / hardware accelerated rendering. We are also not picking up experimental features from the current WebKit builds.
The SDK contains the command line tools and libraries to author, test and package AIR files. It does not include a runtime installer or updated documentation. There is currently support for Mac and Windows, but not support for Linux (yet). However, expect more news on Linux very soon.
The nightly releases are not the same as labs releases. Just as with the Flex SDK nightly builds, they have not been tested nearly the same as milestone and labs releases. There are bugs. Sometimes, there will be really bad bugs, but in general, the quality and stability level will continually improve as we move toward the release this fall. While the nightly releases are not targeted at locating bugs, if you do find issues you want to report, you can use the bug report form to do so.
Of course, as with any pre-release information, this is all subject to change, although at this point we don’t anticipate any major changes.
If you have any questions, or want clarification on anything just post a comment below.
Bummer, still no ability to natively communicate with an external program (namely, a command line tool like ffmpeg). Maybe we’ll see this by AIR 2.0?
Drinkspiller
11 Sep 08 at 1:38 pm
Please do not forget to allow more control of memory usage. Or provide some magic to prevent/solve memory consumption of Air applications.
funkyboy
11 Sep 08 at 3:27 pm
Still no ability to create stand-alone executable files. I afraid AIR apps will be of the same fate as JRE, hard to distribute.
yuku
11 Sep 08 at 8:59 pm
[...] Mike Chambers got more information. Previous in series [...]
Free Adobe - Macromedia Flash Web Site Design Tips, Flash Tutorials » Adobe AIR 1.5 available in Flex SDK Nightly builds
12 Sep 08 at 1:01 am
Cool, Polish support!
Tadeusz
12 Sep 08 at 1:58 am
[...] Adobe AIR 1.5 (”Cosmo”) builds now in Flex SDK Nightly builds [...]
localToGlobal » Blog Archive » news review -> 37th week of 2008
12 Sep 08 at 2:10 am
As Mike told us : “it does not include a runtime installer…” for AIR 1.5
How can we test it then??
After installing the new SDK in Flex Builder, we just can see changes in the AS3.0 code but we cannot export an AIR application and test or debug it because the AIR 1.1 runtime is running in place of AIR 1.5
So, my question is : When AIR 1.5 runtime will be released ?
Quentin Lengelé
12 Sep 08 at 3:14 am
[...] Mike Chambers Article here. [...]
CornFlex - Flex & Flash by Quentin Lengelé » Blog Archive » Adobe AIR 1.5 codename Cosmo
12 Sep 08 at 3:46 am
Is this available along with Flex 4 as well?
Pradeek
12 Sep 08 at 4:24 am
Never mind,got it… just finished downloading
Pradeek
12 Sep 08 at 5:40 am
No run time installer ? So you can only use the ‘adl’ launcher application to try things out at the moment ?
Linux news soon ? You tease me :-)
Tom Chiverton
12 Sep 08 at 8:23 am
Hey Mike !
As you know i base ALL my business on adobe products ‘flex and air) we NEED to be abble to launch .doc/.xls/. … files, just simply, without any browser… can you do that for me ?
(you’ll receive a french bottle of champagne if done).
you can writte me an email if you want more info or screen of our apps (wich is really, really pro and used in a production environnement) =)
CR
CR
12 Sep 08 at 10:13 am
[...] Source [...]
Adobe AIR 1.5 codename Cosmo released « Rich Internet Applications
12 Sep 08 at 10:22 am
[...] More about it on Mike Chambers blog. [...]
FLEX{er} » Blog Archive » Adobe AIR 1.5 (”Cosmo”) Available in Flex SDK Nightly Builds
12 Sep 08 at 1:00 pm
@quentin
–
How can we test it then??
–
Well, as I tried to indicate in the post, this isnt necessarily for testing (that is normally done via private and public betas, the latter via labs.adobe.com).
But, you can test your content using the ADL tool within the SDK.
–
So, my question is : When AIR 1.5 runtime will be released ?
–
This fall…
mike chambers
mesh@adobe.com
mikechambers
12 Sep 08 at 1:52 pm
You know all these snazzy 3D effects and stuff is just dandy, but to be quite honest this is like putting lipstick on a pig, in a pantry. It might be pretty, but it still a pig, and its going to eat all your memory!
Adobe needs to get their act together and fix the technical issues with their runtime so those who have to develop in it can do so with out going completely mental!
CDF
12 Sep 08 at 2:04 pm
All this talk about FP10 and AIR1.5 is good. It is always good to breathe newness into current technologies, but on the other hand, I have to agree with funkyboy. I am currently using Flex/AIR to develop a rather large enterprise desktop application. It is a nightmare. The main issue: Memory. It leaks due to poor garbage-collection and even efforts to clean out references on our own cannot quell the ever-growing memory footprint. This should be the number one issue being handled by dev, but as far as I know, we are only getting a “unloadAndDestroy-or-Whatever” function that will only work with loaded modules.
binary_parasite
12 Sep 08 at 2:16 pm
Pixel Blender Filter still doesn’t work in this AIR 1.5 build. I dunno about other features…
Pradeek
12 Sep 08 at 11:01 pm
is it me, or does ADL not even work?
I’m just tracing: trace(this.transform.matrix3D);
and get the exception: Property matrix3D not found on flash.geom.Transform and there is no default value
I’m running this out of the flexsdk_3.2\bin\
Daniel H
13 Sep 08 at 11:32 am
The same as others: I recommended Adobe Air to our customers but frequently is needed to lunch a word file or another program. Is there anywhere a road map for Adobe Air?
Vasile
14 Sep 08 at 11:18 pm
[...] Adobe AIR 1.5 (”Cosmo”) builds now in Flex SDK Nightly builds If you check out the Flex SDK nightly builds, then you may have noticed that there are now Adobe [...]
L’actu Flash/Flex/AIR - lab3109
15 Sep 08 at 6:58 am
I am fed up with Flex/Flash.
Don’t even think about pixel blending and total superfluous junk when stuff like this doesn’t even work.
if(this.contains(this.someDisplayObject)) {
—>this.removeChild(this.someDisplayObject); //throws error #2025
}
If you do not know what error that is:
ArgumentError: Error #2025: The supplied DisplayObject must be a child of the caller.
CDF
15 Sep 08 at 10:38 am
[...] Adobe AIR 1.5 (”Cosmo”) builds now in Flex SDK Nightly… (from Mike Chambers) [...]
Flex Monkey Patches » Blog Archive » Rubbernecker’s Review - Week 12
16 Sep 08 at 7:43 am
I agree that the ability to launch the default editor for file types as an absolutely essential feature. If we had that, plus dramatically improved printing, I would be extremely happy.
Jeff Battershall
18 Sep 08 at 6:20 pm
yes FLEX/AIR good…
but we need desktop access like:
- natively communicate with an external program
- natively communicate with usb
- dramatically improved printing
- libraries or classes: save files(flv/mov/mp3/xls/doc) and so on
more desktop access like zinc… or better like VS2008
;-)
holosef
28 Sep 08 at 9:24 pm
native communicate with an external program is a must.
Jack
1 Oct 08 at 11:45 pm
[...] version of Flex and AIR. There is also no mention of XSL in Mike Chambers’ September post about AIR 1.5. I have not had an opportunity to pull down a recent nightly build of the Flex trunk to verify that [...]
XSL in Adobe AIR « Dead Ink Vinyl
8 Oct 08 at 10:25 pm
I am really hoping to see some emphasis put on security in the next release. Can anyone comment on any improvements that developers will be able to sink there teach into?
The ability to encrypt swf and other content in the AIR file would be great, as would the ability to hide/encyrpt the descriptor file from prying eyes.
The local encrypted datastore is great, but more tools in the security arsenal would be better.
Rich
16 Oct 08 at 4:51 pm
[...] Cosmo is expected in the next few weeks and will include SquirrelFish JavaScript virtual machine into the [...]
Adobe Unveils AIR 1.5 Update, Ichabod and HTML 5 Video Tag; Hopes to Merge AIR and Flash Lite « TechPulse 360
21 Oct 08 at 6:02 pm
[...] its focus on open source with AIR 1.5, expected in the next few weeks. Version 1.5, codenamed Cosmo, is expected to include updated support for WebKit, featuring the fast SquirrelFIsh JavaScript [...]
Adobe Flashes open credentials for RIA | Enetlive.net- Rich Internet Applications Blog
21 Oct 08 at 10:10 pm
Still no possibility to launch external files nativly without the browser? I have to develop a customized file browser and need that feature. Why are you fighting programs like shuplayer and at the same time you do not provide essential features everybody is asking for?
Christoph
22 Oct 08 at 2:09 am
Very nice to hear about AIR 1.5 and a big plus for the addition of Encrypted databases. This is a sweet feature. Now if you guys could also encrypt the files (.html, .js, .css) that are distributed inside the apps folder, then that would be splendid :)
The Missing Pieces:
What about the memory issues with AIR? Isn’t this more important than the nice flashy stuff?
The other issue is the ability to launch other programs. Some user have even requested the ability to launch non-executable files such as .doc and .xls files. Will this be added to 1.5 or is it not an important feature to have?
Mike,
I know you guys are working hard to improve the platform but please see if you can address the memory issues and the ability to least launch other enterprise documents.
raymond
27 Oct 08 at 7:39 am
[...] Read more about this next release due this fall. more @ http://www.mikechambers.com/blog/2008/09/11/adobe-air-15-cosmo-builds-now-in-flex-sdk-nightly-builds... [...]
What is “COSMO” ? | Adobe AIR Tutorials
28 Oct 08 at 4:51 am
Mike, will 1.5 include any improvements for silent installation of the runtime and/or an AIR app? My sysadmins use batch files and GPOs to push out MSI’s to install apps, and AIR doesn’t support this method. Was hoping to push out a large-scale app this spring and was hoping a winter update to AIR would address this problem…
Joshua Curtiss
28 Oct 08 at 8:35 am
Please, please, please enable launching external files natively without the browser!!!!
Chris Simeone
29 Oct 08 at 10:43 am
[...] And remember AIR applications built for Flash 10 will require AIR 1.5 to run (the current version is 1.1). You can compile and run your application without a lot of trouble, but if you try installing your packaged Flash 10-based application on AIR 1.1, you’ll run into an slightly misleading message that says the package requires an “older” version of AIR and that you need an “upated” version of the packaged application. For that to work, we’ll have to wait for AIR 1.5, which will come “this fall”. You can find more information about AIR 1.5 here. [...]
Zeh Fernando » Blog Archive » Compiling AIR Flash 10 projects with pure ActionScript code
10 Nov 08 at 11:47 am
[...] We just released Adobe AIR 1.5. While this is a point release, it is a pretty significant update. You can find an overview of new features and updates in this article on the developer center, and in this blog post. [...]
Adobe AIR 1.5 is out at Mike Chambers
17 Nov 08 at 9:15 am
Hey Mike,
Do you think, serial port capabilities is something AIR will include some point soon in the future?
I have seen many people trying to add support for several hardware.
Oscar M.
19 Nov 08 at 8:45 am
Sorry to insist, but hell yeah, we need AIR to launch external programs !
Zed-K
20 Nov 08 at 11:38 am
[...] Více na blogu Mike Chambers. [...]
Flex & AIR » Blog Archive » Adobe AIR 1.5 podporuje ?eštinu!
29 Nov 08 at 8:25 am
Nice and Valuable Insight on AIR. Thanks for Sharing.
Rich Apps Consulting
26 Dec 08 at 6:23 am
Let me echo Zed-K…we really need to be able to launch external programs with AIR. There must be a way to make this available to developers.
Daniel McQuillen
6 Jan 09 at 8:21 pm
The ability to launch non-executable programs using the native associated application in the OS like Word for .doc and Excel for .xls is a must. Any serious development platform(which I believe AIR can be) that claims to utilize the benefit of both offline and online technologies cannot miss this feature. I don’t think that it is a good idea to delegate this feature for future versions. Clients ask for such features and if we can’t get these basic features in place, it may be better to develop separately for Windows and Mac, rather than telling clients that we can’t provide them this feature because Adobe hasn’t provided it, seems least interested in pursuing it(No official commitment yet) and does not allow anyone else to do so(Licensing limitations on changing installation procedure for AIR).
Tejas Sanghavi
7 Feb 09 at 5:36 am
Please, add ability to launch word docs, xls, etc.
It didn’t even occur to me that this was not yet a feature until i tried. AIR can delete, edit, create, etc new files and directories. Seems opening a document would be fundamental.
eric
13 Mar 09 at 2:09 pm
It would be a nice touch to be able to launch the default editor for file types, least to say. However, must admit that updates have been helpful.
Gaba
25 May 09 at 3:04 pm
I also find Air lacking on a number of fronts. I think its positioning as an online/offline tool is a little misleading to developers and its actual functionality and therefore use, is limited.
I would love to use it to deliver a number of applications, but for every commercial project I come across, I get to a certain point before realizing its just not the right tool for the job. Good for rapid prototyping, but when it comes to the crunch, its a memory hog and security aside it just doesn’t give us the access we need to the OS. ShellExec being one of them.
I really hope there is something that can be done before it goes the way of other runtimes.
Mark
2 Jun 09 at 12:53 am