Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) announced that the pre-release alpha version of Adobe AIR software for Linux® operating systems is available on Adobe Labs (www.adobe.com/go/airlinux). The Linux community of developers can now use proven Web technologies, such as HTML, Ajax, Adobe Flash® and Adobe Flex® software, to build rich Internet applications (RIAs) that deploy to desktops across operating systems. RIA developers can extend the reach of their desktop applications on Adobe AIR to Linux users without writing additional platform-specific code, providing access to innovative, branded desktop applications that were previously only available to Mac and Windows users.

An update to the alpha version of Adobe Flex® Builder™ 3 for Linux software is also available on Adobe Labs today (www.adobe.com/go/flexbuilder_linux), which adds support for creating applications that run on Adobe AIR. The combination of Flex, Adobe AIR and Adobe Flash Player 9 for Linux comprises a well supported, free RIA development platform that enables developers to build, debug and deploy RIAs entirely on Linux, and across browsers and desktops.

“Adobe is committed to delivering the technologies that enable developers everywhere to create the next generation of RIAs for the browser and the desktop,” said David Wadhwani, general manager, Platform business unit at Adobe. “With the alpha release of Adobe AIR for Linux and the Adobe Flex Builder for Linux alpha update, we’re delivering early releases of a first-class application runtime and RIA creation tool to the Linux community. This allows us to have an open conversation with users during our development process, which will give us very valuable developer insights.”

Adobe AIR for Linux and Adobe Flex Builder 3 for Linux demonstrate Adobe's continued commitment to the Linux community. Also announced today, Adobe joined the Linux Foundation to accelerate the growth of RIA technologies on the Linux platform. Additionally, Adobe recently released the free Flex framework and BlazeDS as open source, and the company continues to contribute to the open source Tamarin virtual machine, hosted by the Mozilla Foundation, which is the core of Adobe Flash Player.

“RIAs in the browser and desktop are an increasingly core part of today's computing experience and the Linux community plays a big part in innovating the future of RIAs,” commented Randy Linnell, business development manager at Canonical, commercial sponsor of Ubuntu. “We’re pleased Linux is a priority for Adobe and are delighted to work with them on ensuring Adobe AIR and Adobe Flex Builder 3 are available to our developer community. We’re pleased that Adobe is supporting and open sourcing technology involved in RIA development, which we feel will accelerate innovation.”

Flex, Adobe AIR and Adobe Flash Player are key elements of the Adobe technology platform. Flex is a free, open source framework for building highly interactive, expressive RIAs that can be deployed on the desktop with Adobe AIR, or in the browser with Adobe Flash Player. Adobe Flash Player reaches over 98 percent of Internet-enabled PCs and delivers unparalleled creative options, highly engaging user experiences, stunning audio/video playback, and virtually universal reach.