Will ajax replace desktop systems? (translation

Ajax

The debate about whether Ajax will replace desktop apps is getting warm, and the two opposing camps are starting to take shape. To come straight to the point, my belief and contention in this article is that Ajax is unlikely to replace desktop applications, but it will create a new software application model that is most likely a development tool, collaboration tool, and business application. Some applications may not be seen on the desktop system at all--although many applications are unlikely to quickly exit the stage of history, they need to meet desktop system requirements at any time. I don't think the next revolution in software will completely abandon the desktop, as Exodus does, but rather a reorientation and combination of a medium variety of modes to achieve the prosperity of the software industry by adapting to outside intentions.
Like other desktop applications, AJAX-based Web apps will follow you around. Most of us have at least one friend who travels the world and leaves you a Hotmail or Yahoo mail account for you to contact. In fact, these browser-based email interfaces help us quickly use email as a personal application. These days, commercial-level email applications that use the traditional HMTL interface no longer appear. Outlook Web Access (although there is a wonderful Ajax interface) is not really popular for some reasons, but Gmail and Zimbra are surfacing, and Zimbra is ready to replace both Outlook and Exchange, It publishes a fully browser-based UI. For Microsoft, they proactively released a new Aajax-based eamil client that would be better than Hotmail if the client added some of the functionality of OWA. If you look at the world of CRM, you will find that Web applications have replaced desktop applications, and Salesforce.com is an obvious example, and the web-based MS CRM has been released for several years.

Where do Ajax-based Web applications replace desktop applications?
AJAX-based Web applications are a reasonable choice for applications where real-time and shared information is a primary condition, including: logistics, accounting, and CRM systems. Routing Excel forms as a way of distributing pricing and customer management in a shared file system will become history. In modern business, timely business data is a key component, while Web applications are natural data-centric systems. Ajax is just such an application of the UI, the UI does not cause users to click the mouse after the long waiting for the page refresh and cause boredom.
It is still useful to rely on Web services and new data sources such as the application of service mappings that consolidate a variety of mega data sources. Similarly, many enterprise systems based on service-oriented architecture (SOA) will greatly benefit from Ajax in terms of distributed and usability.
A browser-based, distributed, rich client can reduce licensing costs for each terminal, such as an enterprise reporting system. Not long ago, a CTO from a major SOA asked me about the pricing of an AJAX-based UI, and the simple answer was that it couldn't be priced like a thick client of the previous C/S mode. Some software developers have found new software licensing methods that do not reduce customer demand for rich-client, web-routed, and their satisfying software, which will result in more software being transferred to Ajax.
Obviously, the benefits of all the on-demand software, software services, and service providers remain because application systems are still being published through the web and Web browsers. Discarding the benefits of browser-based applications as described above is a silly waste of time; however, it is important to recognize that Ajax makes browser-based Web applications much more available. The benefits of this usability can be felt in the province of the user interface that is faster to operate. Alexei White explores this topic in his article measuring the benefits Ajax. For these reasons, Ajax can become a winner in online systems that require users to multitask with large amounts of data, think of call centers and financial institutions. The following scenario: You have a large number of repetitive tasks, applications and a large number of information processing workers, is a mature time to apply AJAX based Web applications.
Applications that need to be modified and changed over time can also benefit from Ajax technology. Users are often not willing to migrate to new applications. The development of Ajax will increase applications that are based on HTML interfaces or have an SOA architecture. For the development team, increasing availability over time is tempting.

Another place where Ajax will win is the business system where people need a lot of publishing and support that is far more geographically than web browsers, and Internet connections are very expensive.

Where are the desktop systems still king?
It is important to see where desktop systems are not being replaced by rich web apps, even the most enthusiastic Ajax preachers will tell you that this technique can only be used in a certain range. Let's look at some things that Ajax can't do very well:
. Browser factors: Add buttons, toolbars, bookmarks, icons, and Change browser behavior.
Local file access: Read and write files on the user's hardware driver.
. Voice Playback: Music and sound.
. Rich graphics: Provides attached graphics and their dynamic changes. (This problem is gradually changing as some browsers introduce SVG, but still cannot contend with desktop systems)
. Keyboard shortcuts: Provides a wide range of keyboard shortcuts and prevents them from conflicting with the browser's shortcut keys.
Hardware access: Hardware input from instruments such as microphones, scanners, and game handles, and output to hardware such as printers and other portable devices.
Extensible communication: Communication between a client and a server only, using protocols that are not just simple, old http.
Interaction with the operating system: capturing events such as closing, starting, changing parameters, pop-up warnings, and reading hardware information.
Of course, Ajax does not support video or audio, so video conferencing, VoIP, and rich media applications are excluded. However, by adding Flash to the UI technology, rich media can be integrated into the Ajax interface. Again, all the needs and applications of processor and memory interaction are not suitable for Ajax. It will take a long time for us to see the application in Web browsers: Video editing, image processing, and video games. I don't think we're going to see people playing the quake type of first shooter game with JavaScript design, which is pointless.

Where do we see the advantages of desktop systems from the Web system?
The world of desktop applications will benefit from Web services and the SOA architecture (which has actually benefited) and we will see more integration between the two worlds. We've seen desktop apps push the web like itunes to rich content. Desktop applications will integrate online, Ajax based services such as live.com and Ms Office.
Ajax becomes the winner, depending on the adoption rate of the new application (web-based). No other technology encounters less obstacles than you would encounter with a browser or network connection. And many Ajax applications gain far more benefit from the network than the optimized client system.

Where does Ajax create a new service opportunity?
Take a look at Google Maps, where no user can save all the maps, images, and business/address list data in their local desktop system. The further concept is mashups, a Web site or Web application that seamlessly combines multiple sources of content into an integrated experience. If every time a user wants to merge different packets, they have to install a plugin or something, then the site will not work. Even if a client application can get the data, it cannot keep the update of the data as easy as a network-centric application.

Collaboration is going to be incorporated into the application, which is not before. A site like writely, once adopted quickly, will change the way we think of office type applications. From the outset, all applications have a common platform--the browser, which says the same language (XML, HTML, and so on). This means that these small applications will be more easily integrated with the development. At present, Microsoft's Office components have been well integrated, and if you use SharePoint, it will work perfectly together. However, this relies on installing a large number of software on each client, and the server framework is well extensible to import them. However, Web applications can improve this experience and Ajax can make these Web applications more usable.
The application will be changed forever using the functionality of a web-based data service that combines AJAX-rich user interfaces with the ability to collaborate in real time. Today's documents and packets are more of a changed content than a static view or page.

Conclusion
What will the future software look like? Today it seems that the crystal ball of divination is still vague, of course, it is always vague. But I think a big or small change is happening among us. It is clear that Web applications are being used in large numbers, and this mass adoption has benefited from Ajax applications. From today's starting point, we will make Ajax a major step forward through the continuous efforts of our community. Now we just see the tip of the iceberg. However, I also think that the power of desktop apps will still have a place in the application and in fact it may never go away.

Index
Michael Mahemoff ' s Blog and Podcast.
About the author
Andre Charland has been working on Internet software for more than 10 years, and is one of the ebusiness applications (www.ebusinessapps.com) Company's chairmen and founders. He and Dave Johnson created the company in 1998. His main experience is in usability, marketing, project Management, and component-based software development. The education includes: Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC, where he reads computer science and business Administration. He has hundreds of internet project experiences as a developer, manager, and architect.
Original link
http://www.developer.com/java/web/article.php/3574116

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