4 ms·

Do you have any reasoning? Full HTML5 support makes the Windows platform as a whole less important (Note: I did not say unimportant). When only the web matter

Do you have any reasoning? Full HTML5 support makes the Windows platform as a whole less important (Note: I did not say unimportant). When only the web matters you can run OS X or Chrome OS or Linux and get "the same web". Of course they'd love to stall that.

qeorge 17y ago
I love the internet, but HTML/CSS/Javascript apps that run in browser are not a panacea. Don't get me wrong - the web has changed the game, but whatever the de facto HTML standards are is somewhat of a sideshow. I often feel as though we're cramming certain applications through the filter of HTML while we wait for native apps to catch up. Google Docs is the canonical example for me. Here's what I like about Google Docs, other than being free: - Docs are stored in the cloud, not tied to one machine - Collaboration - Rapid introduction of new features There's no reason a "dektop app" can't do all of this. iPhone apps are a perfect example of desktop apps that have taken on many of these defining features of web apps. At some point, the web app vs. desktop app argument becomes little more than a question of whether the browser's Chrome is wrapped around it. tl;dr: always available broadband is the real revolution. Worth addressing separately is the idea that MS is attempting to sabotage web apps by dragging its feet on updating Trident. I hear this a lot. I'm an Occam's Razor kind of guy. There's myriad reasons to explain this, all of which are less cloak-and-dagger. Here's a few: - IE has a huge userbase, which is slow to upgrade, and IE is deeply integrated with Windows. This means tons of inertia. Big companies move slowly. - They won't make any more money by implementing HTML5, XHTML, CSS3, or whatever the currently en vogue standard is, and it would cost a ton of money. - Their customers don't give a shit (extension of the previous point). Those who do are using another browser already. - What web app has put a meaningful dent in Microsoft's revenue? Good discussion, thanks.
- tumult 17y ago
  Right. I personally think browser apps will become less relevant. The only reason people are using browser apps is that installation and management of applications on desktops has historically sucked very badly. Install/Update/Uninstall is no longer a good metaphor. Something like iPhone App Store (but not managed by Apple like it is now) or Ubuntu/Debian-esque package management might be the future.
  - ryanpetrich 17y ago
    If Sun wasn't incompetent in this area, Java Web Start could have taken off.

qeorge 17y ago

I love the internet, but HTML/CSS/Javascript apps that run in browser are not a panacea. Don't get me wrong - the web has changed the game, but whatever the de facto HTML standards are is somewhat of a sideshow. I often feel as though we're cramming certain applications through the filter of HTML while we wait for native apps to catch up. Google Docs is the canonical example for me. Here's what I like about Google Docs, other than being free: - Docs are stored in the cloud, not tied to one machine - Collaboration - Rapid introduction of new features There's no reason a "dektop app" can't do all of this. iPhone apps are a perfect example of desktop apps that have taken on many of these defining features of web apps. At some point, the web app vs. desktop app argument becomes little more than a question of whether the browser's Chrome is wrapped around it. tl;dr: always available broadband is the real revolution. Worth addressing separately is the idea that MS is attempting to sabotage web apps by dragging its feet on updating Trident. I hear this a lot. I'm an Occam's Razor kind of guy. There's myriad reasons to explain this, all of which are less cloak-and-dagger. Here's a few: - IE has a huge userbase, which is slow to upgrade, and IE is deeply integrated with Windows. This means tons of inertia. Big companies move slowly. - They won't make any more money by implementing HTML5, XHTML, CSS3, or whatever the currently en vogue standard is, and it would cost a ton of money. - Their customers don't give a shit (extension of the previous point). Those who do are using another browser already. - What web app has put a meaningful dent in Microsoft's revenue? Good discussion, thanks.

tumult 17y ago
Right. I personally think browser apps will become less relevant. The only reason people are using browser apps is that installation and management of applications on desktops has historically sucked very badly. Install/Update/Uninstall is no longer a good metaphor. Something like iPhone App Store (but not managed by Apple like it is now) or Ubuntu/Debian-esque package management might be the future.
- ryanpetrich 17y ago
  If Sun wasn't incompetent in this area, Java Web Start could have taken off.