Slicker development techniques like AJAX, a way of building interactive browser-based applications, are fueling a surge in consumer Web applications.
These new techniques are even reviving efforts to create what was once considered impractical: online alternatives to Microsoft Office.
The launch of high-profile Web services, notably Google Maps, which provided a noticeably better user experience than traditional Web sites, helped publicize the AJAX technique. Now, dozens of start-up companies are using it to create hosted versions of desktop applications, from word processors to project management software.
But rather than simply replicate Microsoft Office online, many of these Web applications, sometimes referred to as Web 2.0, focus on publishing and sharing information over the Net.
The base AJAX technology--which uses the JavaScript language and other Web standards--was invented by Microsoft in the 1990s. But not until recently--around the time the term AJAX was coined in February--have a large number of developers and entrepreneurs grasped the new opportunities AJAX presented, according to analysts and entrepreneurs.
Google's use of AJAX this year helped demonstrate how Web applications could rival the look and feel of existing desktop applications. And wider adoption of Web standards in browsers has given developers some assurance that AJAX applications will run on most PCs.
"When AJAX came out earlier this year, companies started sprouting up everywhere," said Richard Monson-Haefel, a Burton Group analyst. "These start-up companies with smart developers can take AJAX and without any constraints some (tool) vendor set up, can do anything they imagine."
Interactive Web pages built with multimedia tools such as Macromedia's Flash and Flex have been around for years. These so-called rich Internet application tools will continue to exist for sophisticated tasks, but AJAX fits the need for simpler jobs, like adding interactivity to an existing Web site, Monson-Haefel said.
The ability to build a better Web is paving the way for hosted services funded by advertising or subscriptions. That's a shift from the traditional desktop software model where customers pay an up-front fee to install software onto a single machine.
Microsoft, the dominant supplier of desktop software, is moving aggressively, if belatedly, into Web-based application services.
The company realigned its business units around software services and in November launched the Live.com initiative, which includes many services stemming from its MSN division. Many of these Live.com services, such as Hotmail (to be called Windows Live Mail), rely on a revamped front end built using AJAX.
AJAX Office?
The growing use of AJAX--and Microsoft's embrace of services--has spurred discussion of Web-based Microsoft Office replacements. Some companies have already done online productivity applications, but are now making Web-based communication an integral part of their offerings.
For example, Writely is an online word processor. But the greater value of the system is the ease with which people can collaborate and share their Web pages, said Sam Schillace, co-founder of the four-person outfit, Upstartle, which created Writely.com.
"In the last four or five months after we launched, people said we were crazy. Why would anyone edit a document in a browser?" Schillace said. "Now you see Microsoft and Google doing the same. So we've gone from crazy to conventional wisdom in six months."
Google has decided to dedicate some of its workers to the OpenOffice open-source project, which has led to speculation that it will offer a hosted productivity suite.
Microsoft, meanwhile, hasn't announced plans to offer a fully hosted version of Office. The company last month said that it plans a new service called Office Live for small businesses to track customer accounts or manage contacts. But that service will augment, not replace, Office. Office Live will come in both ad-based and subscription versions, Microsoft said.
Another start-up that has been building Web-based Office-style applications is Silveroffice, creator of gOffice. This site offers word processing and printing and intends to soon launch an online spreadsheet and presentation software. A service to convert documents to Adobe Systems PDF format is planned for January, said Kevin Warnock, founder and CEO.
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