AJAX: Ready to take on the old guard?
Published: 03 Oct 2005 16:55 BST
...seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to browser-based applications," Dan Grossman, venture capitalist at Venrock Associates wrote in a recent blog posting. "There are many more on the way, and we'll be increasingly amazed with what can be done," he noted.
Several smaller companies are in the early stages of building AJAX-style applications that are Web-based alternatives to many PC mainstays, potentially luring away Microsoft customers. Examples include project management application Basecamp and an online calendar program now in beta from CalendarHub.
At the moment, Web pages are limited, compared with most desktop applications. AJAX frees Web pages from the clunkiness they suffer from by making them more interactive and so more functional, Web developers say.
Using AJAX, developers can create an interactive user interface that's comparable to what's available on desktop applications. For example, Microsoft Outlook users take for granted that they can drag an email message into a folder, but that's not possible right now with Web-based email clients like MSN Hotmail. With AJAX applications, users can move items such as windows and buttons around a Web page — much as they do with programs linked to Windows or Mac OS.
"Without AJAX, we couldn't have created a user experience that was good enough," said Seth Sternberg, co-founder of Meebo.com, a three-person start-up that provides Web-based instant messaging.
Smaller software makers such as ThinkFree and Writely could eventually create the hosted Web equivalent of Microsoft Office, analyst and writer Richard MacManus noted recently.
Mashing up email
Dietzen said a Web-based architecture provides benefits to administrators, namely a common security system and simplified management. Perhaps more significantly, the...
For more, click here...
Previous
Did you find this article useful?
115 out of 256 people found this useful
- Share this article:
