Primary AIR Technologies | 17This also means that users should not install Adobe AIR
applications from sources they do not trust. This is very simi-
lar to current practices for native desktop applications and
for browser plug-ins. Many applications and web content
require that browser plug-ins (such as Flash Player or Apple
Quicktime) be installed in order to work. The Firefox
browser has a very accessible extensibility layer that essen-
tially allows any developer to extend the browser. These
applications, plug-ins, and extensions can do potentially
harmful things and therefore require that the user trust the
source of the content.
Finally, one of the capabilities that will be included in the
Adobe AIR 1.0 release is the ability of the runtime to verify
the identity of an application’s publisher. Users should care-
fully consider whether they want to trust the publisher of an
application, as well as whether they want to install an appli-
cation that hasn’t been signed.
Adobe AIR Development Toolset
One of the reasons web applications have been successful is
that they allow developers to easily deploy applications that
users can run regardless of which OS they are on. Whether
on Mac, Windows, Linux, Solaris, or cell phones, web appli-
cations provide reach.
However, success is based not only on cross-platform
deployment, but also on the cross-platform nature of the
development environment. This ensures that any developer
can develop for—and leverage—the technology. Neither the
runtime nor the development tools are tied to a specific OS.
The same is true of the Adobe Integrated Runtime. Not only
does Adobe AIR provide the cross-platform reach of web
applications, but, just as importantly, Adobe AIR
applications can be developed and packaged on virtually any
operating system.