Adobe AIR 1.5 now available for Linux

SAN JOSE, USA: Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced the general availability of Adobe AIR 1.5 software for Linux operating systems.

Now, with no additional efforts, developers can use Adobe AIR 1.5 technology to create compelling software applications that are available on Linux, in addition to the Windows and Mac operating systems.

“The release of Adobe AIR 1.5 for Linux builds on our ongoing commitment to the Linux community and our legacy of creating technologies that work consistently across operating systems,” said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president of the Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “Using Adobe AIR, millions of Web developers can now be Linux developers, and with little effort and no additional costs, companies can now target emerging markets and a broad set of new devices where Linux is growing in popularity.”

The graphical capabilities of Adobe AIR, along with its access to operating system functionality, give AIR applications the capacity to provide unprecedented user experiences and brand differentiation for the developers and companies creating them.

AIR 1.5 includes functionality introduced in Adobe Flash Player 10, such as support for custom filters and effects, native 3D transformation and animation, and extensible rich text layout.

Offering new features and performance improvements to create more expressive AIR applications, Adobe AIR 1.5 incorporates the open source WebKit HTML engine and now accelerates application performance with “SquirrelFish,” the new WebKit JavaScript interpreter.

“Intel and Adobe share a long standing track record of deep technical collaboration,” said Christos Georgiopoulos, general manager Developer Relations Division, Intel Software and Services Group. “With Adobe AIR 1.5 now available for Linux, thousands of developers can run their applications across multiple operating environments including the PC, and in the future netbook and Mobile Internet Device platforms based on the Intel Atom processor running Moblin Linux.”

“Outside of the browser, developers have traditionally had to choose one or maybe two operating systems when building an application to keep development time down and costs low,” said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of the Ubuntu project. “With Adobe AIR 1.5, companies and developers can easily target all three major operating systems with a single code base, transforming the application development paradigm and elevating Linux to the same level as Mac and Windows.”

Adobe AIR is a key element of the Adobe Flash Platform, a complete system of integrated tools, frameworks, clients and servers to develop Web applications, content and video that runs consistently across operating systems and devices.