Applications: desktop vs. the browser In the early 2000s, there was a widespread debate about the browser replacing desktop applications - the term Rich Intern

Applications: desktop vs. the browser In the early 2000s, there was a widespread debate about the browser replacing desktop applications - the term Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) was coined. Could browser applications take on desktop software in features and usability? Well, I was sceptical. Fast forward today and how wrong I was. Today, 'cloud' apps running in the browser dominate a whole class of business tasks. I used to believe some types of apps like design and graphics apps would never work in the browser unless extremly limited. But even design and graphics apps have found success in the browser e.g. Figma. The trend of more and more apps moving to the browser (via the cloud) shows no sign of slowing down, only accerelating. (Whether browser-based apps are a good thing or not is a different question though.)