Can you surf the Internet without a browser or view  visually-rich contents off-line?
Mouse-potatoes in their millions around the world may regard the person posing this question as someone ignorant about the net. Yet, Duane Nickull knows more about the ways of the virtual world and also the perfect answer to this question.
“Yes, you can,” he would say, “With Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) that extends enhanced internet experience to the desktop.”
The beta version of AIR, the SDK (Software Development Kit) of which was recently made available as a free download for (open source) developers of internet applications, contains embedded local database, enhanced capabilities for JAVA developers and deeper integration with Adobe Flex – which is also a cross-platform framework for creating Rich Internet Applications (RIA).
Developers using AIR – a cross-platform system application runtime – can use other web tools like HTML, Ajax, CSS, Flex and Flash to extend RIA to the desktop. “We have plans to make Flex 3 (fully) available as open source later this year,” Mr Nickull, senior standards strategist with Adobe, said during his visit to Bangalore to announce the Beta release of the tools.
“Together with Flex 3, AIR will form a comprehensive platform which would contribute to the evolution of web2.0.” In layman’s language, the tools can help create applications that makes browser redundant. Mr Nickull points to his laptop, in which the application built using AIR and Flash Builder allows users to read blogs straight from the desktop, without the browser.
At a click of the mouse, he also runs a flash-based programme that runs the video of California’s famous cycle race.
“Applications like this have the potential to make television broadcasts redundant,” he claimed bullishly. “Cause, the person using this can follow a particular cyclist among the hundred throughout.
Imagine people taking part in a marathon?… They can virtually see their run using this.” The database built into AIR is open source, fully embedded, cross-platform and based on SQL.
Support to PDF would mean documents created using the application can be read and displayed in AIR. 
Flex, the public beta version of which is also available now, is used for creating RIA. Mr Nickull explained that Flex contains some of the major advancements in designer and developer workflow.
Developers, for instance, can directly import CS3 (Creative Suite 3) assets into Flex, since Flex has been integrated with CS3. Enhancement to visual skinning and styling, full language intelligence support for CSS and the facility to edit design and layout of complex applications. “These newer tools are making development of RIA applications ever simpler,” Mr Nickull revealed.
“As AIR can be worked in several different ways and can simplify the complex processes of building (RIA) applications, it is much easier for non-programmers to use it and create applications that can work both on and off-line.”
Coinciding with the release of tools like Flex is the changing attitude of Internet users, who often look for applications that can run lighter, quicker and seamlessly present rich contents. And, of course, most find it frustrating when the contents remain inaccessible outside the internet.
“As you may see, the application built using these web tools are going to be cross-platform, which means they can run on any major (operating) systems in use,” Mr Nickull said.
Though Adobe’s tools to make online applications available off-line have been praised by experts for its simple-to-use features, they point to the fact that such efforts are not new in software as a service (SaaS) segment.
Not long ago, Google had released its word-processing and spreadsheets available, while similar applications are also available with ThinkFree and Zoho.
And Microsoft also joined the fray with its ‘SilverLight’.