John Milan writes about the convergence of Web and Desktop. He argues that Microsoft and Google are focusing so much on each other that both will fail to notice the landscape is changing underfoot. The article concludes that the days of pure desktop-based applications or exclusively web-based apps are numbered. Both Microsoft and Google are racing toward a happy medium.
Meanwhile, Blake Ross, creator of Firefox, has a new project called Parakey, which is intended to bridge the gap between Web and Desktop operating system. Although Ross plans to incorporate the talents and passions of the free-software community, he’s building Parakey around a for-profit business model. And he’s leading the charge with a simple battle cry: “One interface, not two!”
Interestingly, Adobe has a tool under development called the Apollo project, which is targeted at developers who are currently leveraging web technologies, such as Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, and Ajax techniques. Apollo is being touted as the best tool to build and deploy Rich Internet Applications that converge the Web and Desktop…