The web is still the place but I think desktop web browsers could help out a bit here to fill in the gap between full-page websites and native clients. I loved

The web is still the place but I think desktop web browsers could help out a bit here to fill in the gap between full-page websites and native clients. I loved Mozilla Prism before it was discontinued. My best alternative is using Chrome in app-mode "C:\..\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --app="url://my-todos" but it is still not enough. Chrome now has Growl-style messages that web-apps can use to notify the desktop. Trello uses that wonderfully. IE lets websites add options to the tray context menu. iOS Safari has an 'Add to Home Screen' option that makes web-pages behave more like full-screen apps and provides caching. All of these things are disparate and desperate attempts by browsers to be more useful and desktop-like without any standards or forethought. I would love if the major browsers could agree on some tags/JS to enable (with permission from the user) better integration with the desktop. From taskbar/tray-icon and windows position/size to run-at-startup and multi-monitor support. This way Twitter can just use a slightly different CSS file and a few meta tags to pretty much replace their native app. Browsers are now fast enough for most everything you need a desktop app for but the 'app' experience is lacking. Chrome's apps are not quite cutting it. Web-apps need to be able to break out of the browser without having to use window.open().