Adobe Donates Flex to Apache

Adobe moves an other step away from the Flash platform and donates Flex to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). The ASF will still have to vote whether they will take on Flex and have not yet commented on the matter.

While Adobe states they are still committed to Flex, they also say that HTML5 will be the best technology for developing enterprise web applications on the long term.

Now honestly: would you really care investing your precious time in learning Flex now that Adobe has made this move, even if they say they are still behind the technology and its community? I actually feel sorry for the developers who did, and also for the people who invested their time and skills in Microsoft’s Silverlight which is going the same path as it looks right now.

Here are some links on the subject for your reading enjoyment:

Microsoft May Halt Development Work on Silverlight Plugin after Next Release

Will Microsoft follow Adobe in calling it quits on the development of their rich content plugins for (mobile) web browsers?

I bet they are laughing their asses off at Apple’s headquarters right now reading these announcements.

Link : The Verge – Microsoft may halt development work on Silverlight plugin after next release

Adobe Demos Flash-to-HTML5 Conversion Tool

The fact that Apple does not allow Flash on iOS devices is gradually becoming a problem for Adobe. Very slowly, sites are enhancing and updating their content to make it compatible with HTML5 so their rich content can be viewed on the Safari browser of the iPhones, iPods and iPads.

Creating HTML5 content is much harder currently than creating Flash content. Needless to say that engineer Rik Cabanier’s demo of a utility that converts a Flash file into an HTML5 webpage delivered him a huge round of applause at the Adobe MAX 2010 event.

Note that this is a tech demo, which does not promise implementation in the next version of Flash Designer. Anyway, we got an important glimpse of the direction Adobe is heading into.

Check out what engineer Rik Cabanier showed (just a tech demo, no promises, etc.) during MAX sneak peeks Tuesday night:

 

Are you surprised? Don’t be. As I’ve written many times, Adobe lives or dies by its ability to help customers solve real problems. That means putting pragmatism ahead of ideology.

Link : John Nack on Adobe – Adobe demos Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool