Apollo Is No Flash in the Pan

Adobe's answer to WPF/E is code-named Apollo. Apollo was released in the alpha stage—that's right, alpha—today. The alpha release also is an example of how Adobe is engaging developers differently than before the Macromedia acquisition and, in the process, improving time-to-market of new products.

Target: Adobe
Trouble has been brewing between Adobe and Microsoft for some time. Starting with Microsoft's 2003 release cycle, which included new versions of Exchange Server, Office, SharePoint Server and Windows Server, Microsoft set an enterprise collision course with its longtime development partner. Moving into the 2007 release cycle, it's difficult to find a Microsoft product that doesn't compete with an Adobe line of business.

Their respective development approaches and pushes into areas like animation, collaboration, conferencing, design, document containers, forms, Web development and workflow, put Adobe and Microsoft on a collision course. What's the law that says two objects cannot occupy the same physical space at the same time?

I've heard rumblings that increasing competition is as much philosophical—or religious, for its intensity—between the two companies. Some Microsoft people view Adobe as a traitor developer, because of .Net, or so sources say. Adobe isn't on board with .Net and so far has shown no inclination to change direction. Apollo is a further indication that Adobe won't be going .Net anytime soon, if ever.

Microsoft isn't making it easy to resist .Net. In early June 2006, Microsoft pulled a quick sleight of hand—on a Friday, no less—with the rebranding and repositioning of WinFX as .Net Framework 3.0. The move wasn't all that surprising, considering .Net Framework is the glue for Microsoft's so-called "integrated innovation" strategy.

Four main pillars support .Net Framework 3.0: CardSpace, WCF (Windows Communication Foundation), WPF and WF (Workflow Foundation). The core is integrated into Windows Vista and available for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

Divergent Paths
Rather than get behind .Net, Adobe has chosen a different development path, favoring technologies like Java and J2EE. Microsoft claims that developers familiar with .Net Framework will gain an advantage developing for WPF. By contrast, particularly with Apollo, Adobe is banking on developer familiarity with AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), Flash, Flex, HTML and JavaScript.

Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia opened up new areas of competition with Microsoft, with Web animations, vector graphics and RIAs (rich Internet applications) standing at the forefront. Microsoft's challenge to Flash is WPF/E and XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language), leveraged off .Net Framework 3.0 and Visual Studio development tools. Apollo, a cross-operating system run-time for Web developers, is Adobe's response.

The push into RIAs is an opportunity for both companies, but perhaps a greater risk for Microsoft. Adobe is in a stronger position to extend many of its core applications with RIAs, whereas some Internet applications would compete with Office and Windows. Adobe's Rich Internet Applications Web site and this Microsoft document Introducing Windows Presentation Foundation offer contrasting approaches. Microsoft offers a Forrester report "Developers, Get Ready: 2007 Microsoft Office Is a Serious Application Platform" (PDF) on its Web site.

As the report's author, John Rymer, rightly observes: "Office 2007 will also provide an alternative for building some kinds of rich Internet applications and will compete with AJAX techniques and Adobe Flex." Microsoft calls the approach Office "Smart Client."

Timing Is Everything
Apollo comes during a surprisingly unexpected transition for Microsoft. The company has done a two-step around its new Expression product suite, which is now being positioned for designers rather than designers and developers. The tools developers will really want for WPF/E and Web development won't be coming out until the release of the next Visual Studio version, code name Orcas. WPF/E has yet to release either; it's still in development and available as a CTP (Community Technology Preview).

Meanwhile, developers aren't exactly busting out the WPF applications, let alone those supposedly "everywhere." Maybe developers are too caught up in working out problems with Windows Vista. Last week, I met with Mark Magee, Altiris director of product marketing. Magee said more than 70 percent of Altiris business customers are "asking about Vista application compatibility."

Vista resistance among enterprises is another concern. Two weeks ago, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said his company would wait for the release of Service Pack 1 before making the big move to Windows Vista. Here in the Washington area, several government-agency CIOs have put Vista on the back burner. This week's FOSE trade show should be a good barometer for government agency intentions to deploy Vista.

Advantages that should have worked for WPF/E—Expression, .Net Framework, Visual Studio and Windows Vista—simply aren't in place yet, which has created opening for Adobe to push back hard with an alternative for developers that happens to build off the huge popularity of Flash.

Lab Work
The Apollo Alpha comes out through Adobe Labs, which is one of the best unsung assets of Adobe's Macromedia acquisition. Adobe is reaching a different developer community than before the acquisition. Over the last year, Adobe Labs has released some intriguing incubation projects, such as Flash Lite, Lightroom, Mars, Soundbooth and, now, Apollo.

Photoshop Lightroom development is evidence of what Adobe is doing right with Labs and how the company is better connecting with developers. The company released the first Lightroom beta in early 2006, several months after Apple unveiled Aperture. Both products are designed for use by photographers. Adobe used the feedback to improve the Lightroom, which was released as Version 1.0 last month.

Microsoft's Connect Web site is very much in the mold of Adobe Labs, but with broader focus. Connect has opened up Microsoft betas to a broader group of people than its old Web site program. While Adobe Labs makes downloads available to pretty much anyone, the focus clearly is the developer.