Well what is the difference between
Adobe Air
and
Multidmedia Zinc
Not a lot in fact both provide similar yet different APIs to cover the non web bits, File access, local DB etc.
I like AIR a lot, but I also really like Zinc 3. Here is a summary of the key differences
Adobe Air 1 Pros
It's Free
It's intergrated
Its signed code
It gives you a package that installs through the air Installer
You can make an application from HTML
Adobe Air 1 Cons
You need the AIR framwork installed
You can't customize the installer
You can't produce a standalone version (exe)
You need to purchase a certificate to become a known publisher.
You need to take your app say flex and write it differently for Air.
Zinc 3 Pros
It's nice new studio for building your package
You can customize everything and use a third party installer if you want
It can produce standalone native exes and mac / linux equivilant
It requires nothing addditonal for your users to run your program
You require no code changes to turn your SWF into an exe
Zinc 3 Cons
It's not Free
It's not as nicely intergrated, although they do have plugin versions
It's has a huge new competitor Adobe that it may struggle against.
Given the good marketing and hype that AIR has received I think it's important to consider the options, I personally don't get it since Zinc has been around a while, I've been thinking but I've been able to do this for a long time.
And don't choose AIR just because it's free, remember that you need to purchase and renew certificates. If you haven't tried either, I recommended that you give them both a go.
11 comments:
Hi Dale,
Here's my take on this. I think there's room for both and that AIR may even expand the market for Projector tools.
Nice Post,
However eBay, CBA and other huge companies never used Zinc yet they are using Air at Version 1.
That is due to it being an Adobe product.
The one main thing I don't like about the AIR solution is that if I have a perfect application that doesn't require file system or any AIR framework suff and its flex I can't just make it AIR. I have to change it. The very first line needs to change from mx:Application to mx:WindowedApplication Why they did this im not sure.
The one thing I don't like about Zinc is the price, and the fact they seem to price based on the platforms you wich to compile to. If you want to buy the multi set $800 US, thats more than flex builder and for what it does, is dam expensive. If it was less I would have purchased it already.
"You need to take your app say flex and write it differently for Air."
This is not true you can quite simply copy your mxml from a flex project into an air project andnhave it work straight away.
What you cant do is have AIR specific content in a Flex app - a pinickity distinction, but valid none the less.
Zinc has better database connectivity options then AIR, and the is a huge plus in my book. I know AIR has sqlite, but if you have an existing db, say MSSQL or MySQL, you have to use a service to get the data into AIR. But Zinc can connect directly to the db. and don;t forget Zincs pdf controls.
@Matt
This is not correct, you need to change the very first line
from
mx:Application
to
mx:WindowedApplication
Unless I've missed something Air will not work as just an
mx:Application
You forget a MAJOR con for Zinc. Its history. I used Zinc 2.x extensively and it was about as buggy as buggy can get. "Features" many times didn't work well, the right way, or at all. I have paused indefinitely on purchasing Zinc 3.0 mostly because I don't want to purchase another really buggy product that I have to make hacks to work around.
I agree, but I have also found several bugs in AIR.
Having played with Zinc 3 I think it's a vastly improved product, and since the builder is free, you can test as much as you like before you purchase the plugins.
@ Dale,
I have to correct you, you CAN use the mx:Application tag. I do this all the time because when I use the mx:WindowedApplication I get that ugly AIR chrome when I change the chromesettings to 'none'. Really weird actually. In my opinion AIR rules but...
1. It needs improvement and more functionality
2. It had to be released earlier!
3. Integrated runtime in the installer!
Well i have seen zinc complied exe's at Max Barcelona 2007 in the kiosks ;)
Although i was using Zinc for 3-4 years , i am a huge fun of AIR
Have a look at
http://www.shu-player.com
Shu is an AIR wrapper that extends the functionality of an AIR application, solves most of the limitations discussed above regarding AIR ;-)
Try haxe with neko and flex...
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