New Collaboration App Might be a Compromise Between Microsoft and Google

Who says you can’t have rich funtionalities of on-premise software in a web-based app? That seems to be the mantra of Adobe, whose Adobe Integrated Runtime apps were profiled in this nice Wired piece today.

It was a refreshing article if you’ve grown tired of the Google vs. Microsoft showdown the media has happily generated in articles ranging from apps to ads to search.  Up until now, the conventional criticism of collaboration apps on the web (think: Google Apps) has been that they lack the richness of traditional on-premise office apps (think: Microsoft Office). Conversely, the on-premise apps have been criticized for being overly bloated and non-user friendly.  

But due to Adobe’s use of its web presentation technologies like Flash and Flex, consumers (and eventually enterprise users) could have the richness of an on-premise app but access it over the web or a desktop, depending on the user’s preference.

Some highlights from the article:

-AIR has opened up its code for developers (something Google is working on, too, with Google Gears) to let them change the web-based version into something desktop worthy.

-It has the ability to embed docs and spreadsheets directly into blogs

-Desktop version not desktop dependent (Windows, Mac and they’re working on a Linux).

Any other office apps like this one that you’re using that could be an alternative to the Google/Microsoft face-off?