4 ms·

Its also alot easier to write a plugin for outlook ( a desktop program )... than it is to modify the functionality of an existing website that is not yours in a

by utnick 18y ago

Its also alot easier to write a plugin for outlook ( a desktop program )... than it is to modify the functionality of an existing website that is not yours in a nonbuggy crossplatform way.

paul 18y ago
I bet that you've never written an Outlook plugin :) I'd much rather try to hack Gmail JS, which many people have done, btw (see Remember The Milk for a popular example).
- natrius 18y ago
  GMail is a moving target and anything that integrates with it is liable to break without notice. Outlook changes once every couple of years and actually has a documented API for integrating with it that is updated when a new version is released (I presume).
  - paul 18y ago
    Having a documented api doesn't make it easy, just ask Xobni. In practice, making a fast and stable Outlook extension is extremely difficult. Also, Gmail actually does have a number of documented and stable hooks for extensions to use.
  - menloparkbum 18y ago
    If enough people star the request ticket for a Gmail gData api, perhaps a xobni style widget for gmail will be easier to build in the future. http://code.google.com/p/gdata-issues/issues/detail?id=271 http://code.google.com/p/gdata-issues/issues/detail?id=271
    - kirubakaran 18y ago
      Okay, I did my part.
vlad 18y ago
Desktop software has the benefit of perceived privacy and being easily scalable, as you pay for a filehost and installations are done on each user's computer. However, the problem with this is that once any user sees a bug, screws up their registry, deletes a file, upgrades or installs a Firewall that starts blocking ports or an Anti-Virus program that's over sensitive or slows your application down, installs a new or different Service Pack, then you will receive questions that you now have to answer and debug that have nothing to do with your program. Then you have to create and release an update, making the customer wait, instead of being able to change things on the fly, as is possible with many web app frameworks.

by utnick 18y ago

Its also alot easier to write a plugin for outlook ( a desktop program )... than it is to modify the functionality of an existing website that is not yours in a nonbuggy crossplatform way.

paul 18y ago

I bet that you've never written an Outlook plugin :) I'd much rather try to hack Gmail JS, which many people have done, btw (see Remember The Milk for a popular example).

natrius 18y ago
GMail is a moving target and anything that integrates with it is liable to break without notice. Outlook changes once every couple of years and actually has a documented API for integrating with it that is updated when a new version is released (I presume).
- paul 18y ago
  Having a documented api doesn't make it easy, just ask Xobni. In practice, making a fast and stable Outlook extension is extremely difficult. Also, Gmail actually does have a number of documented and stable hooks for extensions to use.
- menloparkbum 18y ago
  If enough people star the request ticket for a Gmail gData api, perhaps a xobni style widget for gmail will be easier to build in the future. http://code.google.com/p/gdata-issues/issues/detail?id=271 http://code.google.com/p/gdata-issues/issues/detail?id=271
  - kirubakaran 18y ago
    Okay, I did my part.

vlad 18y ago

Desktop software has the benefit of perceived privacy and being easily scalable, as you pay for a filehost and installations are done on each user's computer. However, the problem with this is that once any user sees a bug, screws up their registry, deletes a file, upgrades or installs a Firewall that starts blocking ports or an Anti-Virus program that's over sensitive or slows your application down, installs a new or different Service Pack, then you will receive questions that you now have to answer and debug that have nothing to do with your program. Then you have to create and release an update, making the customer wait, instead of being able to change things on the fly, as is possible with many web app frameworks.