Adobe Releases Cross-Operating System Runtime

An anonymous reader writes to mention that Adobe released the first public version of their new cross-operating system runtime today nicknamed 'Apollo'. "The software relies on HTML, JavaScript, Flash, and Adobe Flex. The alpha version, which presently works on Windows and Macintosh, can be downloaded for free at http://www.adobe.com/go/apollo. Once the Apollo apps are created, users can launch them from their desktops, without using their browser or connecting online. An Apollo application can connect automatically to online data or services when an Internet connection is detected, with new components automatically downloaded and integrated. The user needs the Apollo runtime to run the apps, just as a Flash player is needed to run Flash animations."

Comments

Re:Two good reasons to stay far away

[danpsmith]

The first reason, and the less sure one and more petty one, is that I feel that Adobe ruins all software over time. If you think carefully about this, and if you have sufficient experience with Adobe software, you will agree with me. The only project Adobe has not completely destroyed is Photoshop, and that is only because they move most cautiously with that product. If they screwed up Photoshop they would cease to exist yesterday.

Definitely agreed, "adobe pdf viewer" alone is enough to bring a state-of-the-art dual core computer to its knees in some cases. I recommend everyone use any alternative PDF viewer, which has faulty printing algorithms, slow printing algorithms, and seems to go out of its way to be a bloated, buggy piece of trash that will take all the CPUs time up in a heartbeat.

Photoshop, I would even say, seems to eat more and more resources for no conceivable reason with every new revision. Adobe is a bloat machine on par with AOL, and Microsoft for sure. All that being said, Apollo should be resisted at all costs. Adobe is as Linux unfriendly as almost anything else and every step ahead it takes in adoption is a step backwards in cross-platform compatibility.