Adobe Prioritizes AIR Linux Porting Kit, Will No Longer Offer New Versions Of AIR Or AIR SDK Directly

Adobe has stated that by the end of 2011 it expects that there will be more than 200 million smartphones and tablets that will be able to run Adobe AIR apps. That will include Android and iOS devices as well as the Blackberry Tablet OS devices that are on the market. Adobe says it is committed to bringing its runtime technologies to platforms and devices that are important to end users through its partners.

Adobe wrote in an official blog post that to offer support for the variety of Linux-based platforms across PCs and other devices it would be prioritizing a Linux porting kit for AIR including the source code. The porting kit will allow Open Screen Project partners to complete AIR programming and implementations on Linux PCs, TVs, mobile devices, and more. At the same time, Adobe is announcing that AIR 2.6 will be the last version of AIR released for Linux desktops directly by Adobe.

The porting kit will be the focus moving forward and support of partner implementations. Adobe claims this will allow it to provide broad support for AIR on Linux PCs through partner developments. Adobe claims that less than 0.5% of lifetime AIR downloads were its own desktop Linux release. Existing AIR apps for Linux hardware will continue to operate, but the user will not be able to install apps or updates that require later versions of Air unless the update is offered by an Adobe partner.