Adobe quietly rolls out Flash Player 10.1 and AIR2

While closing a recently revealed security hole in Flash Player, this release also paves the way for easier application development for multiple devices. Prior to 10.1, multiple screen development required multiple versions of applications to target different versions of Flash players. Flash Player 10.1 unifies the player across desktop and mobile platforms, making it possible to create one application that will work on desktop and mobile platforms.

This version of Flash Player will be the last version that will play on a PowerPC G3 with MacOSX 10.4. 

Wow. 

It amazes me that while Apple abandoned the G3 years ago, Adobe has continued to keep it in mind for its Flash Player. While it is amazing that the G3 remains on Adobe's radar, it is more amazing to me that there must be enough of them still operating in the world that Adobe has maintained support for it in the Flash Player. 

It's been 1999 since a G3 PowerMac was made by Apple, but it continued to use the G3 in the iMac and iBook line until 2003. Flash Player 10.1 requires a 500 MHz G3, so that excludes all of the PowerMac towers and desktops. Knowing that in my kids' schools, they were using G3 iBooks until a couple of years ago and also that the schools sell them at rock bottom prices, it's not surprising that there's still enough users out there for one more go at Flash Player.

The story for AIR2 isn't so far reaching, though. It requires at least an Intel Mac and MacOSX 10.5. Along the develop once, deploy anywhere model, there is also an AIR prerelease program for Android. With Android in the mix, developers can create AIR applications that will run on both desktop and mobile devices.

Flash Player and AIR represent a tremendous opportunity for companies to reduce development time and costs by removing complexity in the development process.