[Sigia-l] Going from Windows GUI to Browser-Based GUI

[Listera]

"David Heller" wrote:

> if you can do all IE, then I suggest looking at convea.com

I'm trying to stay out of this topic, but...

This makes me wonder, if you are willing to restrict yourself to IE5/6 then
why bother converting from a Windows-only desktop app to Windows-only web
app in the first place?

Given one's ability with a standalone or a C/S app to a) embed an HTML
rendering engine, b) emulate a browser UI, if one needs/has to, c)
communicate with web servers via HTTP and d) do very light-weight
integration via web services, why bother with the web browser at all?

For those who have missed the "let's port to the web" bandwagon during the
dotcom era, that, in fact, is precisely what Microsoft wants you to do now:
it won't upgrade IE6 as a standalone browser any longer and any significant
enhancements will require people to buy the next Windows version, Longhorn.

This is partly to get everyone to buy another Windows upgrade, you'll have
no other choice, and partly to buy into the .NET/web services paradigm where
platform-specific desktop apps (where Microsoft is strong) reign supreme
once again.

So, unless the objective is to convert Windows-only apps to more ecumenical
ones, people ought to (re)consider why they need to port their standalone,
C/S apps to browser-based ones. Even then, the issue is far deeper than the
UI, if the atrocious record of Windows-only development shops in creating
web apps that work anywhere but IE/Win is any indication.

Ziya
Nullius in Verba