AIR Over SilverLight

Looking at Adobe AIR and Microsoft SilverLight, AIR has the superior application model, even against SilverLight 2.0. Here is why.

(I've got to be short and to the point here, my MBA - Transformational Leadership class homework awaits...)

Lets work backword here for a moment. I think that everyone would agree future productivity applications, frequently thought of as word processors and spreadsheets among others are going to be web capable and web delivered. I know that the University of Phoenix is moving from Outlook to Google Gmail, and they seem to be enthusiastic about the online applications such as word processing and spreadsheets they are getting for free as part of the package as they move to Googles GMail.

So when you are using a word processor, what do you need? You need a fully featured application, that can store files for reuse later on. You need an application that you can use if your Internet connection goes down. You want a word processor that you can use where ever you go that you have a computer, regardless as to whether you can connect to the Internet or not. You want it to be cool, and you DON'T want to have to drag your storage device, no matter how small around with you.

Now lets look at Adobe AIR. I must state that I am speaking from a generalists viewpoint here about what I have read about Adobe AIR. Although I have done quite a bit of Flash programming, I have never programmed applications using AIR up to now.

That said, AIR is a cross-platform, Internet connectible/disconnectable applications development platform. What I mean by that is that AIR will run on Windows, the Mac and soon Linux. It can launch applications from the web, or from your local hard disk and communicate with databases, server applications and other applications written with AIR, .Net or other systems over the Internet.

AIR can store data on your local hard disk. So if you build a web-based word processor or spreadsheet program that you can launch by clicking on a hyperlink on a web page, it can be installed on your local hard disk, and even if the Internet goes down in your area, or more likely, you lose your wi-fi connection, the documents you are working on don't go bye-bye. Assume then that you shut-down your computing device and start again several hours later. Since the Adobe AIR-based productivity applications can reside on your hard disk (or the Internet), you can start your AIR-based application, which can read the docs from your hard disk, and then copy them to your storage in the Internet on a server somewhere.

Sounds like WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) based application you say? Yes! - Except that WPF is Windows only! No Mac or Linux support. Can SilverLight do it? Well, SilverLight by itself is not meant for PC-based Internet disconnectable applications. In other words, SilverLight is meant for always-connected-to-the-Internet type applications. You lose your Internet connection, and if you shut down your browser, you are toast. SilverLight is not meant for writing PC based applications like Word or Excel that launch from your local PC and save data to your local PC. At least not by itself.

So what am I saying here? Microsoft is in catch-up mode. Next week we will be hearing great things about SilverLight coming out of MIX '08. I personally have high-hopes for SilverLight, as I think Microsoft (my favorite computer company) is on the right track. However, Adobe with AIR has been on the right-track for quite a while now, and Microsoft needs to make some adjustments in their targeting. I know that they can and will adapt SilverLight (or WPF) to the PC-disk based, local storage enabled, Internet capable and launchable, Internet and browser disconnectable, cross-platform applications model. It is just a matter of time. But in my mind, the sooner, the better!

(C) 2008 - Aaron L. Richards of Richards Media Net LLC - Great opportunities for Media Technologies!

A vision from a man who grew up in the Internet Age, writes computer software and develops Internet systems for a living, and has visions of the future that keep him up at insane hours of the night.