Adobe finally released the recently renamed Flex Builder (now Flash Builder) 4 along with Catalyst as public betas. The name change seems to be nothing more than a political statement differentiating between the open source SDK and their proprietary stuff.

The first thing that you’ve already noticed is that we are renaming Flex Builder to Flash Builder. This name change will create a clear distinction between the free open-source Flex framework and the commercial IDE.

Catalyst seems to be the most intriguing piece of software we have seen for a long, long time, potentially speeding up the work flow of many agencies and producers.

Adobe® Flash® Catalyst™ is a new professional interaction design tool for rapidly creating user interfaces without coding.

• Transform artwork created in Adobe Photoshop® and Adobe Illustrator® into functional user interfaces.
• Create interactive prototypes with the ability to leverage them in the final product
• Publish a finished project as a SWF file ready for distribution
• Work more efficiently with developers who use Adobe Flash Builder™ 4 to create rich Internet applications (RIAs). Designers use Flash Catalyst to create the functional user experience then provide the project file to developers who use Flash Builder to add functionality and integrate with servers and services.

Thanks to Lee Brimelow, you can find a good first tutorial covering both releases over at gotoAndLearn.com.