I was thinking, what goes into building a cool Adobe AIR desktop application? An AIR application can be developed either using Adobe Dreamweaver, Flex or Flash. Here are some features of AIR that you can leverage to make your application look cool-

• Use of custom chrome- Why should applications be bound in a rectangular box? With AIR, you can change the look and feel of your application (even make it apple-shaped) for an intuitive user experience. Here is a wonderful tutorial for  you to get started- http://technoracle.blogspot.com/2007/07/air-apple-shaped-application.html
• System Tray Integration- Most dektop applications these days have system tray integration, when you minimize them, they dock to the system tray. Here is a tutorial on how to achieve docking- http://www.saskovic.com/blog/?p=5
• Transitions and Effects- As with Web Applications made in Adobe Flex, you can use transitions and effects in your AIR dektop application. Here is a totally cool effect- http://www.alex-uhlmann.de/flash/adobe/blog/distortionEffects/effectCube/
• Use of the SQLite API- Adobe AIR provides an SQLite API which can be used to make local SQLite databases. SQLite requires no seperate installation and is a serverless, compact DB engine – just what a desktop application needs

Other than this, an AIR application is capable of using the client system’s native filesystem, performing application updates, using the clipboard and everything else a desktop application is capable of. The biggest advantage of developing an AIR application is that it is cross platform- it runs seamlessy on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Exciting times ahead with the upcoming version of AIR 2.0 which facilitates microhpone data access, multi-touch and gesture events, USB detection and much more. Check out a preview here