Monday, Adobe released its Adobe Integrated Runtime operating system. Computerworld reports:

AIR is a runtime environment for building RIAs in Adobe Flash, HTML and Ajax. The product includes the Safari WebKit browser engine, SQLite local database functionality, and APIs that support desktop features such as native drag and drop and network awareness.

It allows developers to create rich Internet applications on their desktops. Customers who have been running beta-versions of AIR said they adopted it to "bridge the gap" between the Web and the desktop and so that their Ajax and HTML developers don't have to learn a whole new way of building apps. Some of those customers include the American Cancer Society and NASDAQ.

What's more, says techtree.com

:

AIR...will allow companies with Web sites to inhabit a permanent spot on people's desktops, in a way similar to Google's widgets.

For customers, the companies are just a click away, the story says, and they have direct links through which to do business with the companies -- no middleman required. AOL, eBay and FedEx are a few companies that have deployed applications on AIR.

Along with the AIR environment, Adobe has also released Flex 3. Both are open source.