> Web Browsers really make poor client application runtimes for all but the most basic of things.
Little did he know that we'd have Microsoft to thank for the innovation (XMLHttpRequest) that would eventually bring the era of desktop software to a close.
Translation: we can thank Microsoft for creating a world where you need to run whatever arbitrary software some website sent you just so that you can click on some underlined text and go to a different website.
(Also the fact that at least half the websites I see these days manage to break basic browser features like "Back," "Forward," "Bookmarks," etc.)
I know most people are psyched about the end of desktop software, but personally I can't stand apps that don't belong in the browser, being ported to run in the browser.
> Somewhere around this point, people began spewing mindless drivel about how browsers would somehow magically replace operating systems eventually, and how in the future all applications would be "web based". This, of course, got Microsoft's attention.
Maybe we haven't gotten there completely yet, but holy cow. WebGL, more web-based applications than you can shake a stick at, and OS emulation in-browser. I think it's close. :)
One person's future is another person's mindless drivel, I guess.
Little did he know that we'd have Microsoft to thank for the innovation (XMLHttpRequest) that would eventually bring the era of desktop software to a close.