Since the emergence of Dynamic HTML circa 1997, pundits have predicted the death of desktop applications. Will AJAX prove to be the magic ingredient that makes these long-standing predictions come true?
From David McLeary of Cloud Ten Limited: “The use of AJAX has made it almost possible to replicate most operations of software that is available such as Microsoft Excel. Do you think the use of this is the future or are the limitations placed on it by, for example, browser security going to prevent it from reaching its full potential.”
Let’s stop for a moment to examine the benefits that AJAX-based web applications have to offer over their desktop counterparts:There is no software installation required, removing a barrier to entry for some users.
Users can access the application, along with their data and preferences, from any Internet-connected location with a modern desktop browser.The latter has had a significant impact on which AJAX applications have been successful in attracting users. AJAX has been successful in spaces like email, calendaring, mapping and photography, where mobile or multi-location access is clearly beneficial.
More office-oriented applications like spreadsheets will struggle to find a market for AJAX implementations, at least for now. Having ad hoc mobile access to these types of applications may become important to users somewhere down the line, but it isn’t yet. Consequently, users will tend to stick with traditional desktop software solutions, where the interface can be completely tailored to the needs of the application.
That said, I don’t mean to imply that traditional desktop software and AJAX-powered web applications are the only two options. There are many hybrid solutions that are attempting to blur the lines between the Web and the desktop, attempting to harness the benefits of each to capture the hearts and minds of mainstream users.
For example, Adobe Flex and OpenLaszlo add the requirement of an up-to-date Flash plug-in to the browser, but in return offer greater control over the user experience, and an escape from certain browser sandbox restrictions (such as local data storage).
Closer to the desktop, there is Java Web Start, that can download, install and launch a desktop application when the user clicks a link in a web page. Upcoming alternatives such as Adobe’s Apollo and Microsoft’s XAML will work in a similar fashion. It will be interesting to see if any of these platforms can achieve the ubiquity of the AJAX-capable web browser as a means of accessing applications away from the home/office desktop.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment