Now that the AirDerby deadline has passed, people are starting to show off their cool applications.  I've been to a few sites that have an "Install Now" badge (like the Adobe AIR Sample Gallery).  These badges allow the user to click on a link and both the AIR runtime and AIR application will be installed for the user.  This sounds very enticing and is a very easy method for the user to install your application.  However,  despite not even working on my system (Windows XP SP2, Firefox and the latest Flash beta), and despite Adobe's touting of this as a feature (AIR Install Badges), THIS IS A VERY BAD PRACTICE.  There's negative stigma associated with installing software from the web browser, especially software that can access local files.  A CTO sees this and their scared-off searching for other development options.

JUST SAY NO TO WEB-BASED INSTALL

The stigma of installing software from links on websites to my local system scares me.  Over the years, I've trained all my users and friends that it should scare them, too.  We can probably thank Internet Explorer and the days of ActiveX Controls for this.  Using the AIR "Install Badge" gives the user a very similar experience as ActiveX in the old days, which nobody in their right mind uses anymore because it's associated with the virus mayhem (not to mention C++ complexity).  Why do we want to bring this into the new and exciting world of Adobe AIR?

Users of fine software understand the need to  install software to their local system, and that when they do, they should really trust the source of where that software came from.  For this process, they're trained to download the .DMG(OSX), .MSI (Win), etc. to their desktop, and then double-click to invoke the installer.  This is something they are comfortable with, and more importantly it's also a process that raises the user's awareness that what they're about to install could be dangerous to their system.  Installing AIR applications from a web-page doesn't make me feel comfortable, despite being prompted with dialog boxes announcing that the code is signed code and asking me where I want to install it. (Adobe is doing a good thing by requiring AIR applications to be signed.)

The use of these badges, and the prompts a user reads, is very reminiscent of Internet Explorer and it's ActiveX control installation process.  And no one trusts that these days, so why duplicate that installation process with the Adobe AIR product?  Some proponents of the badge might argue that there's the automatic FLASH installers.  For this, I'd say that Flash is ubiquitous enough, and has enough familiarity that this falls into a different category because users are comfortable installing FLASH.  It's the Coke-a-cola of multimedia viewing on many web sites.

Let's not confuse users, nor tarnish AIR applications by even offering this service from a web page.  Instead, have your users download the AIR file, and then manually install it.  This sends a clear message:  you're installing a full desktop application that might be bad for your system, you should be aware of this.  This physical act is more important than the reading of dialog boxes.

A suggestion for a better install process

To go a step further, I'm really hoping that Adobe offers some form of packaging for AIR that is native to each operating system.  As a developer I can distribute a single DMG or .MSI file  that the user downloads.  Inside this DMG or .MSI file is the AIR runtime (the version that my application was developed with) and my custom AIR code.  I don't mind the 8 to 10 megs of overhead this brings.  This way, users can install software with the appropriate prompts that they are used to from native installs.  The Mac users can drag the application to their Applications directory; Windows users can answer all the appropriate prompts.  This is an installation process that end-users are both familiar and comfortable with.

Not to mention, this install badge doesn't even work for me!

I'm on Windows XP sp2 and Firefox, and the latest Flash Beta.  It seems most AIR developers are on OSX, so maybe my Windows security configuration is protecting me -- or maybe it's just a bug with the Install Badge?  Personally, I'm glad this is failing.  However, since I've seen this "Install Now" badge on several sites, I have to assume it works on people's computers.  Every application on the Adobe page that I tried to install with the Install Badge, fails.

Summary

The AIR Install now badge is reminiscent of being prompted to install ActiveX controls.  Internet users don't feel good about doing this.  Though it's only in perception, there could (and will) be many malicious applications written in AIR that will do things like erase users images, send files to remote web servers, etc.  This is the price you pay for writing applications that run in the user space.  Let's just not confuse the users, nor tarnish the AIR reputation by using these INSTALL NOW badges for your legitimate applications.  Let's leave that circumnavigation to the nefarious webistes.  And Adobe, please offer us some form of native install user experience for our applications.

What's your take on it?

You can learn more about creating AIR install badges by reading AIR Install Badges, How to: Creating an AIR Express Install Badge, and Using SWFObject and the AIR install badge for easy deployment.