Adobe AIR 2.0 will hog less memory and add multitouch support

If you use Adobe AIR apps on a regular basis, you have a lot to look forward to in AIR 2.0. The next version of Adobe's cross-platform app framework adds a bunch of little tweaks and a few major ones, including support for multitouch and gestures. Maybe even more importantly, AIR apps now won't suck up your CPU cycles and memory at such an absurd rate. A full list of upcoming features was just posted by AIR developer Chris Cantrell.

I've run into a lot of people who choose not use AIR apps because of their memory-hogging tendencies, and the improved performance in AIR 2 - depending on how improved it is - might go a long way toward getting more people to adopt the framework. Meanwhile, folks whose machines support multitouch and gestures will start to see new apps that take advantage of zooming, rotating and more. Other less-flashy features include audio recording and opening files in their default applications.

My favorite assessment of AIR comes from Tweetie developer Loren Brichter: "AIR apps are like modern day Java applets ... sure, they run on every platform. But they also suck on every platform." Hopefully, AIR 2.0 will prove him wrong. A beta is coming later this year, with a full release in early 2010.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Tags: adobe air, AdobeAir, air 2.0, Air2.0