Every fledgling technology has misconceptions about it until people get more exposure to it, have used it, have developed with it, and understand the intent and limitations of that technology. AIR is no exception.

Adobe calls AIR "a new technology that makes possible exciting new software applications that merge the desktop and the web." I've emphasized "software applications" for a reason: the goal of AIR is to build desktop applications. The great part of it is that applications can be build using technologies familiar to web developers including Flash, Flex, and the web standards trio, HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Robert O'Callahan, a Mozilla developer has, after hearing about AIR, raised some concerns, specifically regarding application sandboxing and custom chrome. I'll touch on both and why I believe neither are not serious issues, at least as to how they apply in the context of building a desktop application.