Webtops: The Best of Desktop and Browser-Based Apps in One
Use Java Web Start, JDIC, and AJAX-style communications to create powerful, rich desktop clients called Webtops.
by Michael Bangham
June 28, 2006
here is no denying the allure of browser-based applications: one common code base on the server, the virtual guarantee of a browser on the user's desktop, and simple installation. These advantages have in recent years fueled a mass migration of code to the server side and the near extinction of fat GUI clients. In turn, the limitations of HTML have led to a cornucopia of client-side technologies such as dynamic HTML, applets, Flash plug-ins, and more recently, AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML).
These tools have addressed some of the weaknesses inherent in browser-based applications, but they by no means offer a comprehensive solution. Applications become a hodgepodge of HTML, dynamic HTML, plug-ins, and servlets, and browser-compatibility issues continue to plague developers.
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here is no denying the allure of browser-based applications: one common code base on the server, the virtual guarantee of a browser on the user's desktop, and simple installation. These advantages have in recent years fueled a mass migration of code to the server side and the near extinction of fat GUI clients. In turn, the limitations of HTML have led to a cornucopia of client-side technologies such as dynamic HTML, applets, Flash plug-ins, and more recently, 
