Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Adobe, Beta
Adobe Air 2 goes beta, adds tons of new features, sucks a whole lot less
by Lee Mathews Nov 17th 2009 at 3:00AM
We've had a love-hate relationship with Adobe Air since it arrived on our desktops. Ram-hungry apps had us seeing red. Still, a few killer apps helped drive adoption - apps like TweetDeck, Times Reader 2.0, and DeskTube. As Air continued to develop, it got leaner and meaner and now version 2 has arrived in beta. Adobe Air 2 is now here, and it's ready to get down to business.
Air 2 features a number of tweaks, updates, and feature additions. For starters, the Air 2 ships with Flash 10.1 beta - which adds GPU acceleration support and so far seems to kick my CPU's ass less often. Air 2 also boasts tighter integration with operating systems and can now access certain mass storage devices like USB flash drives, digital cameras, and flash memory cards. Air 2 can also tap into your computer's microphone.
Webkit has been updated, as has the SquirrelFish Extreme Javascript engine. Those two changes combine for a reported 50% gain on SunSpider benchmarks. There's also added multi-touch and gesture support and better printing and networking (including the ability to listen for incoming socket connections). Got a gigantic display? Air 2 supports a maximum window size of 4095x4095 - a 42% increase, though likely not one you'll benefit from at home.
Processor usage and memory consumption have been addressed, with many Air apps reporting about half the CPU utilization of Air 1. TweetDeck on my system is using about 20Mb less RAM. More efficient use of my hardware? Now that you can enjoy at home.
For more details about Adobe Air 2 check out the embedded clip of Kevin Lynch's presentation from MAX or head over to Adobe Labs, where you can also download the new version. Downloads are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
So far, the Air 2 beta feels like a major step in the right direction for Adobe. As more developers begin taking advantage of the possibilities now available and optimizing their apps for the new version, you may just see some pretty cool things happening on Air 2.
[via Adobe.com]
Air 2 features a number of tweaks, updates, and feature additions. For starters, the Air 2 ships with Flash 10.1 beta - which adds GPU acceleration support and so far seems to kick my CPU's ass less often. Air 2 also boasts tighter integration with operating systems and can now access certain mass storage devices like USB flash drives, digital cameras, and flash memory cards. Air 2 can also tap into your computer's microphone.
Webkit has been updated, as has the SquirrelFish Extreme Javascript engine. Those two changes combine for a reported 50% gain on SunSpider benchmarks. There's also added multi-touch and gesture support and better printing and networking (including the ability to listen for incoming socket connections). Got a gigantic display? Air 2 supports a maximum window size of 4095x4095 - a 42% increase, though likely not one you'll benefit from at home.
Processor usage and memory consumption have been addressed, with many Air apps reporting about half the CPU utilization of Air 1. TweetDeck on my system is using about 20Mb less RAM. More efficient use of my hardware? Now that you can enjoy at home.
For more details about Adobe Air 2 check out the embedded clip of Kevin Lynch's presentation from MAX or head over to Adobe Labs, where you can also download the new version. Downloads are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
So far, the Air 2 beta feels like a major step in the right direction for Adobe. As more developers begin taking advantage of the possibilities now available and optimizing their apps for the new version, you may just see some pretty cool things happening on Air 2.
[via Adobe.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Evenio said 4:33AM on 11-17-2009
I guess it was ballsy of them to demo it on the platform they've written it to perform the worst on.
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William Wolf said 5:14AM on 11-17-2009
Never had a problem with Air. I actually think my first post here was saying that people should use Air over Widgets. I'm extremely glad to see a decent update, and all I wish now is more Air programs.
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yooo said 7:03AM on 11-18-2009
Adobe Air is horrendous. I installed it to run a Pomodoro timer, that is, well, just a timer - counts down seconds from 25minutes; to do that it wants a huge chunk of my resources, and has the cpu working hard enough to have to run the fan continuously!
Ridiculous.
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