Flex 2 Free

So, Adobe has announced that they will be making Flex 2 available free. A lot of this probably has to do with the fact that Laszlo has been free for quite some time now:

http://www.andersblog.com/archives/2006/01/free_flex_frame.html

It doesn't include the Flex Builder IDE (that should be somewhere under $1000) or the Enterprise Flex Server (you can use low level MSDE like version for free), but the decision to offer the framework at no cost is significant nonetheless. This means that the door is open for both 3rd party SWF generation tools to make use for the Flex framework and 3rd party server products to take the place of the Flex server. Keep an eye out, because I'm sure there are going to be some people that are smart enough to take advantage of this.

4 Comments

  • Free is good, opensourcing the framework would give them even more leverage over Laszlo. I expect this move is allow them to compete with WPF on the windows platform as well. Still waiting on .NET support though....

  • Thanks for recognizing the significance of the "open" aspect of this decision... that was the part that reached me most, too. Much of the early commentary focused on the "free" aspect, but I also suspect that the ability to insert different parts into the workflow will be the bigger advantage, longterm.



    If you can exploit the Flash Player, framework or compiler in your own work, then great. From what I see, Adobe is betting on providing better services here, seeking a smaller piece of a bigger pie. I'm encouraged that you highlighted this aspect too, thanks! :)



    (fwiw, I don't hear much talk of Laszlo inside the company, myself.)



    jd/adobe

  • With regards to the .net stuff:

    What are my options today if I want to use the flex 2 beta and need to use .net/sql server on the back-end?



    Roger

  • You don't really have any good options. You can't have a pure .NET solution if you want to take advantage of the Flex Enterprise Framework, since it is only available in Java currently.

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