Since the growth of the internet in the late 90’s and post .com bust companies have been trumpeting the delivery of applications/services via the web browser as the way of the future and declaring the death of "old", "dinosaur" desktop client applications.

As we are nearing ubiquitous broadband and connectivity it is interesting to see a growing interest and push for client/server apps that will run in both online and offline modes.  On one side you have the end user.

People are becoming more and more dependent on being connected that they feel uneasy when they do not connectivity or god forbid.., no device.  This mentality combined with the big uptick in smart phones and mobile usage with broadband-like connectivity is helping fuel the fire.  Email has helped fuel this.., people don’t throw around the term Crackberry for nothing.  Web mail is great, I use it all throughout the day but as soon as Microsoft release their Live Mail Desktop client into beta in ’07 and I started using it there was no going back, the experience just doesn’t compare.  You of course have the Big G providing offline support for GMail now after clamoring from the userbase for sometime.

One the other side you have application creators.

Engineers love developing web applications.  They are quick to build and deploy in comparison to old C/C++, Java apps.  Open web standards like HTML, Javascript, CSS and wide spread flash gives developers a nice tool set for solving a lot of life’s problems in the browser.

BUT,

There has been a fire brewing in developers bellies ever since they started figuring out how to utilize the XMLHttpRequest Object to deploy apps that provided a richer user experience.  If you are wondering what the hell "XMLHttpRequest Objects" are its because when Microsoft developed it in the late nineties it was purely a geek/developer tool that wasn’t being utilized.  Fast forward to a few years ago and the hype machine revved up for the "web 2.0" days and the technology was given the term "AJAX".

Since the height of web 2.0 more and more advanced apps have been developed constantly breaking new ground in features and experience.  Meebo is a good example which reproduces the IM experience quite well 100% in web standards and no plugins.

Developers want more though.., we need a NEW term.., how about RAI (Rich Application Interface).  Adobe AIR, MS Silverlight, Google Gears, desktop widget frameworks, mobile apps working in online/offline mode, etc etc.  All meant to take advantage of the web for delivery but enhance the user experience by providing a client/server type environment and hooks into native OS power.

However this plays out one thing is for sure, web standards rule the roost and will make up the majority of all end user application development now and in the future.  For the edge cases where html/js/css just wont cut it you have solutions that are helping to bridge the gap between web and desktop development.

There are three example solutions looking to bridge the web/OS gap for developers each with different goals in mind.

Yahoo!’s Browser Plus framework provides the backbone for development and delivery of browser plugins that work not just cross browser but also cross OS.

Two new Silicon Valley startups are approaching things from a different angle.

Rho Mobile provides a framework for writing web apps that will run across all mobile devices while providing native app like functionality.

Appcelerator provides a platform for web apps to be run on the desktop leveraging webkit while also providing a framework for plugins that can be written in

Open Source is key to all three to get adoptance.  Rho and Appcelerator are currently Open Source while Browser Plus will be open sourced by Yahoo! possibly by mid year.  Be on the lookout for these projects and other new players to make big pushes as their frameworks mature and "the cloud" takes hold.