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Desktop apps died more than 1 decade ago. Most people's don't install any program on their computer outside of Chrome.

Razengan 4y ago
Wrong.
wizofaus 4y ago
Are there actually genuine stats around this? There's no question there's a class of users these days that have limited use for apps other than their browser (and maybe Adobe Reader for signing/ form-filling PDFs, presumably that will be possible via a browser plugin soon enough too). Those users are presumably not HN readers though (there's at least 20 desktop apps I rely on every day, and another 20 I use weekly or more). Edit: the Adobe website claims you can do form fill and sign of PDFs from within a browser, but it's never worked for me. Recently had to initial every page of a 78-page PDF, which my fairly beefy machine struggled a bit with (it was truly painful on my partner's lower spec machine), I'm curious how feasible that would be in a browser.
ahartmetz 4y ago
Most people didn't have a general-purpose computer thirty years ago. We are going back to that state of things. Those who want one, then and now, will have one.
t-writescode 4y ago
More than one decade ago was, at best, 2011. There were plenty of desktop apps back then. Most messengers were real desktop apps, then, for example.
yamtaddle 4y ago
Everyone I know with a desktop computer installs & uses tons of programs that aren't Chrome. And most of them aren't programmers or other flavors of computer nerd. The non-nerds also absolutely notice when some stupid Electron chat app makes their laptop hot and takes their battery life from 16 hours to 2.5 hours (ahem, Discord when using voice and/or video chat). Proponents of that tech claim normal users don't notice, but 1) they definitely, 100% do, and 2) more than one might think are even able to figure out which app, specifically, is responsible, not just "my machine's slow and battery's dying fast and I don't know why" (it's usually not exactly rocket science).
blue_adept 4y ago
You're kidding, right? There are a lot of Linux users who are screaming for system tray support on many apps. My college is totally on board with Office 365, but I haven't owned Windows in over twenty years. I inherited a Windows desktop in my office, but it mostly stays powered off in a corner. My system tray has Slack, Discord, Teams, and VLC pretty much all the time. My taskbar often gets rather loaded with how I switch between workflows, and I've already got the Outlook PWA stuck there doing nothing. I was really hoping I could eventually have a native Outlook electron app (I feel a bit iffy installing a third party solution), but instead I'm gaining another app that sits there 90% of the time doing nothing.

Wrong.

Are there actually genuine stats around this? There's no question there's a class of users these days that have limited use for apps other than their browser (and maybe Adobe Reader for signing/ form-filling PDFs, presumably that will be possible via a browser plugin soon enough too). Those users are presumably not HN readers though (there's at least 20 desktop apps I rely on every day, and another 20 I use weekly or more). Edit: the Adobe website claims you can do form fill and sign of PDFs from within a browser, but it's never worked for me. Recently had to initial every page of a 78-page PDF, which my fairly beefy machine struggled a bit with (it was truly painful on my partner's lower spec machine), I'm curious how feasible that would be in a browser.

ahartmetz 4y ago

Most people didn't have a general-purpose computer thirty years ago. We are going back to that state of things. Those who want one, then and now, will have one.

t-writescode 4y ago

More than one decade ago was, at best, 2011. There were plenty of desktop apps back then. Most messengers were real desktop apps, then, for example.

yamtaddle 4y ago

Everyone I know with a desktop computer installs & uses tons of programs that aren't Chrome. And most of them aren't programmers or other flavors of computer nerd. The non-nerds also absolutely notice when some stupid Electron chat app makes their laptop hot and takes their battery life from 16 hours to 2.5 hours (ahem, Discord when using voice and/or video chat). Proponents of that tech claim normal users don't notice, but 1) they definitely, 100% do, and 2) more than one might think are even able to figure out which app, specifically, is responsible, not just "my machine's slow and battery's dying fast and I don't know why" (it's usually not exactly rocket science).

blue_adept 4y ago

You're kidding, right? There are a lot of Linux users who are screaming for system tray support on many apps. My college is totally on board with Office 365, but I haven't owned Windows in over twenty years. I inherited a Windows desktop in my office, but it mostly stays powered off in a corner. My system tray has Slack, Discord, Teams, and VLC pretty much all the time. My taskbar often gets rather loaded with how I switch between workflows, and I've already got the Outlook PWA stuck there doing nothing. I was really hoping I could eventually have a native Outlook electron app (I feel a bit iffy installing a third party solution), but instead I'm gaining another app that sits there 90% of the time doing nothing.