Michael Robertson who created mp3.com, Linspire, and now Ajax13 had this to say about desktop applications:
Desktop software programs are slowly dying and being replaced by web based programs as the world moves to “the cloud” (the net). The best example is communication programs such as Eudora and Outlook which are being replaced by Gmail and Yahoo Mail. But now another type of desktop software is starting to make the shift, productivity software. Programs like MS Word and MS Powerpoint will soon be replaced by browser driven programs. Through use of AJAX technology these web programs have the same level of responsiveness, no up front cost, availability from any computer with net access, and an expanding feature set. These advantages are hard to ignore.
I’ve discussed this very topic with a number of friends, one of which thinks this whole notion is BS. He wants the feature set only desktop applications can provide today and doesn’t like the idea of saving his personal data in “the cloud”.
I tend to agree for most applications. I continue to use Outlook for most email and Excel for spreadsheet duties. But I do this not because they offer more features. I choose this route because I’m lazy when it comes to applications. Once I understand the idiosyncrasies, limitations and tricks to a various product like Outlook, I’m slow to move to another application. There could very well exist a perfectly good ajax-based email or spreadsheet program. But if it doesn’t act exactly like those I’ve learned to use over the past ten years, it’s highly unlikely I’ll switch.
That’s how I feel today but that could change over time and I believe it will. I’m not a big Gmail or Hotmail fan although I used Yahoo Mail for a few months and found it worked well, probably because it felt the most like Outlook. This past year I installed Roundcube Webmail on my server and I’ve been very impressed. It’s slick, fast and easy to use. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of Outlook but that’s a good thing when I’m at work or on the road and just want to check my email. It feels years ahead of Gmail or Hotmail and I even like it better than Yahoo Mail. It wasn’t very easy to setup which is a big negative. Not a single friend of mine in the technology field had even heard of Roundcube. That needs to be worked out or it will remain a niche product. But if you run your own mail server I can highly recommend this very polished product.
Roundcube screenshot
Since discovering WordPress a few years back I’ve also spent far less time in Microsoft Word. WordPress is a phenomenal piece of software written by Matt Mullenweg. When I first started blogging, I’d write my post in Word, spell check it and then copy and paste it into Greymatter, PMachine, Radio or WordPress. But with the advances made to later versions of WordPress and Firefox’s built in spell checker, I have little need for Word anymore. I seldom write letters to my friends and family anymore. In fact, I seldom send them email. Now I fire up WordPress and write a blog entry because I know they will see it there.
Nordquist Blog 