Zinc Vs. AIR
Here is some info on making desktop apps in Flash, and the two ways that I would choose.
Zinc: A SWF2EXE compiler that allows building desktop apps using external classes that are imported when you compile a SWF in Zinc. http://multidmedia.com/
AIR: You should know what this is…
Zinc used to be my #1 when building desktop apps in Flash / Flex Builder. Lately, I am growing quite fond of AIR. Since it has a stronger foothold than it did previously it is making more sense to use it. It’s free.
So far, it seems to be just as powerful as Zinc except that it requires a runtime. However, because it uses a cross-platform runtime it has the upperhand. Zinc requires a seperate volume license for each platform (Windows/Mac/Linux), which means extra money if you want to publish an executable for all three platforms.
The AIR Runtime is gaining tremendous momentum as far as user percentages are concerned. With popular apps like TweetDeck more users are becoming receptive of the AIR Runtime.
I still really like using Zinc and I have never had an issue with it. The support team is great and is quick to respond to issues and there is a giant community. However, AIR is an Adobe product and has that family tie to Flash. Awesome.
Another SWF2EXE compiler is The Jugglor, but I won’t even get into that. It’s pretty low-grade and has a trendy interface as a selling point. Yay.
There is a free demo of Zinc available at their home of http://multidmedia.com/.
AIR is available at http://adobe.com/AIR/, but that’s just the runtime. Here is a list checklist to start developing for AIR:
- Update Flash Player to the current version.
- Download the AIR SDK here: http://www.adobe.com/products/air/tools/sdk/
- Flash CS4 users will want the AIR 1.5 update for Flash CS4 located here: http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/downloads.html
- Flash CS3 users will need to do this update: http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/downloads.html#orig_update, and then do this update: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb403682&sliceId=1.
It sounds like kind of a pain, but it can be done in about 5 minutes without a hitch. Anyway, I hope you find this info helpful and useful!
Air is attractive to me because:
–a big company is behind it
–it has some nice built in stuff like drag&drop and databases
–the install/upgrade is nearly seemless
However, ultimately, it’s limited compared to Zinc. There are just many more things you can’t do with AIR.
There’s also screenweaver and SWFStudio that are viable comparisons to Zinc
Thanks,