Web developers, unite! For all too long, Web developers have been oppressed by the shackles of the browser window, their creativity stifled by cross-browser compatibility issues, their self-image hurt by the scoffs of desktop app programmers who trivialize browser-based solutions. . . But that was then; this is now. Or, to mimic the voiceover from an overly dramatic movie trailer, Everything you know about Web development is about to change. Introducing Adobe AIR. . . Adobe AIR promises to liberate developers from the snares, toils, and oppression of their browser-based prisons and enable them to create “rich Internet applications” (RIAs) for the desktop. In true Braveheart fashion, maybe you will find yourself shouting from your office or cubicle, “You can take my life, but you can never take my Adobe AIR!” Okay, perhaps I am guilty of being just a wee bit over-the-top as I introduce Adobe AIR, but I hope the melodrama does serve a purpose. It helps show you that AIR really is not just another flavor of the week. AIR really does provide a greater freedom to do things that HTML/Ajax, Flash, and Flex developers can’t do inside the browser. In this chapter, I introduce you to this “breath of fresh AIR” and get you started working with it. Viva la RIAs! Hope you