I installed Adobe Flex Builder 2 on my 12" Apple powerbook with a G4 processor, and 768mb of ram running Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). I installed it in a few minutes without problem. The application performs well on Mac, and with the exception of some user interface elements looks and feels just like the Windows version of Flex Builder.

Flex 2 created a big change in the way Flex applications are built and deployed. With previous versions of Flex your code was compiled on the server at runtime. With this change also brought a much lower price tag for small businesses, in fact you can actually download and install the Flex 2 SDK for free. The Flex 2 SDK allows you to compile flex applications from the command line.

Althought Adobe has made the Flex language available for free, their flex builder is well worth the money. You get a powerful IDE (integrated development environment) based on the industry standard Eclipse Open Source Project. If your already using Eclipse to build ColdFusion Apps, or Java Apps, you can install Flex Builder as an Eclipse Plugin to integrate into your existing development environment.

Flex Builder also boasts a WYSIWYG application design mode, which allows you to drag and drop user interface components on to your application canvas.

Screen Shot of Design Mode

If coding is more your thing, Flex Builder has taken some of the coding features of dreamweaver that you'll love, including tag completion, tag suggestions, and error highlighting.

Screenshot of Error Highlighting

While Flex 2 doesn't require any server components to run, you can still make use of your server by either making a simple HTTP request to a web service, or by using the Flex Enterprise Data Services you can get better performance when connecting to the server.

Pros

• No server side tools are required for deploying Flex 2 applications.
• Flex is now much more affordable for small businesses.

Cons

• Mac version was released months after the Windows Version
• Charting Components Cost Extra
• No Linux Version

Notable New Features

• WYSIWYG Interface Designer
• Eclipse Plugin features Tag Completion, Suggestions
• Error messages shown before you compile
• No Server Installation Required

Overall Flex 2 provides great improvements to the Flex language, and the Flex Builder is a great tool for building rich internet applications with Flex.

Adobe Flex Home Page

Retail Price: $499 Standard or $749 with Charting Components

Buy It