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October 4, 2005 10:31 AM PDT
Ajax gives software a fresh look
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From Web page to Web platform
August 16, 2005 -
Microsoft gets hip to Ajax
June 27, 2005
Over the years, desktop applications tied to a specific operating system have become entrenched as the main way to work on a computer. Ajax, a set of development techniques standardized over the past eight years, could change all that by bringing more sophisticated interfaces to Web applications. With that, backers are hoping it can open a crack in the dominance of desktop software like Microsoft's Office, the undisputed market leader.
"This is a space that's crying out for innovation," said Scott Dietzen, president of messaging start-up Zimbra. "At this point, there isn't a company that's up to challenging Microsoft. But we're out to change that."
What's new:
Messaging company Zimbra is one of several companies betting that Ajax-style Web development will shake up the PC software market.
Bottom line:
While the Ajax development technique is likely to blur the line between desktop and Web software, it's unlikely to displace Microsoft's dominance as the leading applications provider.
On Tuesday, closely watched Zimbra outlined its business model and announced that it has secured $16 million in venture funding in conjunction with this week's Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company said it will launch its e-mail server software as a free open-source edition next month. Customers can pay a yearly subscription fee for updates and support, and a higher-end version will be available for a price.
Zimbra is one of a growing number of companies that are betting that Ajax, which stands for Asynchronous JavaScript + XML, will turn out to be more than just a catchy abbreviation. In the development style, programmers use a number of standards-based technologies, notably JavaScript and XML, to write applications. Many Web entrepreneurs and established software providers are hoping that Ajax can reinvigorate the PC software business by marrying the graphical user interface of desktop computers with the benefits of the Web.
Clearly, nobody expects Ajax-style applications--just now entering the market--to overtake Office anytime soon. Microsoft has long controlled more than 90 percent of the desktop software market, and the company's Information Worker unit, which includes Office and related tools, generated more than $11 billion in revenue--more than one quarter of Microsoft's total revenue in fiscal year 2005, according to the company.
But companies like Zimbra are paving the way for others to enter a market long thought to be stagnant.
"My sense is that we're just 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 e-mail message into a folder, but that's not possible right now with Web-based e-mail 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 e-mail
Dietzen said a Web-based architecture provides benefits to IT administrators, namely a common security system and simplified management. Perhaps more significantly, the Web-based architecture lets Zimbra combine e-mail with other applications in novel ways, he said.
"The big thing is e-mail-based 'mash-ups.' The Web is becoming this platform for collaboration. Why should we isolate e-mail?" Dietzen said.
Earlier this year, Google Maps, one of the first applications to make the benefits of Ajax development clear to a broad audience, emerged. The program enables people to use a mouse to move a map image around the screen.
Zimbra programmers have used the same techniques to make e-mail clients and servers more interactive. The company's Web-based client
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1. AJAX is based on the XMLHttpRequest object, an ActiveX component invented by none other than the propietary king, Microsoft. I believe, however, that FireFox now has a compatible version of it own of this component.
2. Could this technology be used to exploit the consumer? The idea of subscription based software rather than a one time license has been on the minds of companies for years. On this model, you wouldn't buy software and install it, you would subscribe to it and use it over the Web, meaning the need for constant connection to the Net (and therefore exposing yourself inncecesarily to viruses, hackers) and also it would mean that if the software server is not available (which happens often enough with some of MS services) you can't use the software. It could also mean that a terrorist attack capable of taking down the Web's backbone servers (the top level domain servers for example) would not only stop the Internet, but also all companies "subscribed" to the software would be unable to work, resulting in millions in losses. Of course, that's a worst case scenario.
The idea that subscription based software is now possible is not very appealing. The consumer is locked into paying monthly fees for the use of a program. This is a new way for companies to extract more money from consumers. When will consumers and end users take a stand against this abuse?
1. AJAX is based on the XMLHttpRequest object, an ActiveX component invented by none other than the propietary king, Microsoft. I believe, however, that FireFox now has a compatible version of it own of this component.
2. Could this technology be used to exploit the consumer? The idea of subscription based software rather than a one time license has been on the minds of companies for years. On this model, you wouldn't buy software and install it, you would subscribe to it and use it over the Web, meaning the need for constant connection to the Net (and therefore exposing yourself inncecesarily to viruses, hackers) and also it would mean that if the software server is not available (which happens often enough with some of MS services) you can't use the software. It could also mean that a terrorist attack capable of taking down the Web's backbone servers (the top level domain servers for example) would not only stop the Internet, but also all companies "subscribed" to the software would be unable to work, resulting in millions in losses. Of course, that's a worst case scenario.
The idea that subscription based software is now possible is not very appealing. The consumer is locked into paying monthly fees for the use of a program. This is a new way for companies to extract more money from consumers. When will consumers and end users take a stand against this abuse?
Example: http://roomity.com is web2.0.
.V
Example: http://roomity.com is web2.0.
.V
Moving Buttons has nothing to do with AJAX. This is possible because of the use of JavaScript and CSS, also often described as DHTML.
Also I'm pretty shure Google Maps does NOT use AJAX - they are using only XMLHttpRequest which does NOT support asynchronic communication: the client sends a request and gets an answer.
Feel free to correct me
Moving Buttons has nothing to do with AJAX. This is possible because of the use of JavaScript and CSS, also often described as DHTML.
Also I'm pretty shure Google Maps does NOT use AJAX - they are using only XMLHttpRequest which does NOT support asynchronic communication: the client sends a request and gets an answer.
Feel free to correct me
"Bill of Rights
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Are there any explanations as to why post ( re: The NewsForge Article - with views about OS/2 vs Windows 95 during the 90's) in relation to your article appears to have been removed?
"Bill of Rights
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Are there any explanations as to why post ( re: The NewsForge Article - with views about OS/2 vs Windows 95 during the 90's) in relation to your article appears to have been removed?
http://trends.newsforge.com/trends/05/10/01/1548246.shtml?tid=29
a part of which reads as follows; "Even worse, Windows arch-enemy at the time, the dreaded OS/2, showed major performance gains when running on the Pentium Pro. Not to worry, in one tiny corner of cyberspace, a corner thick with journalists and analysts alike, Richard Shupak of MS Research stepped up to do battle with the truth.
Shupak claimed that Windows 95 was no less 32-bit than OS/2, and therefore there had to be some other explanation as to why Windows 95 ran slower on a Pentium Pro while OS/2 ran faster. As evidence, he cited the total lines of code in each OS, and the total lines of code that were 16 bit. Indeed, these figures showed Windows 95 to be more of a 32-bit OS than OS/2. Left at that, it was a perfect deception, with facts to back it up, while the truth of the situation was left harpooned on the beach like a dying whale.
As shrewd and cunning as Shupak's lies were, they were not quite good enough. IBM's Colin Powell pointed out the fallacy in the tale. Since the entire OS is never loaded in memory at any one time, the statistics quipped by Shupak were meaningless. What mattered, Powell noted, was the mix of 16-bit versus 32-bit code actually running in the machine at any given moment. And on that basis, it was the Pentium Pro who was the final arbiter, the blind justice, the even-handed Solomon: and it decreed time after time, application after application, that OS/2 rocked and Windows 95 sucked. Ergo, not only had MS been lying for years about its "all new, all 32-bit" OS, they were piling on more lies to cover up their previous disconnects with the truth.
Now fast forward ten years. Let's talk about the new DVD formats, and the wrestling match for mind-share between the Blu-Ray Disc (BD) preferred by Sony and Toshiba's HD DVD. MS and Intel back HD DVD, and they recently stepped up to explain why. As The Register points out in a recent story on the subject, the fact that Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 will be making use of their choice makes it all a little bit more personal."
Taken from this article about AJAX which reads; "Over the years, desktop applications tied to a specific operating system have become entrenched as the main way to work on a computer. AJAX, a set of development techniques standardized over the past eight years, could change all that by bringing more sophisticated interfaces to Web applications. With that, backers are hoping it can open a crack in the dominance of desktop software like Microsoft's Office, the undisputed market leader".
Against these backgrounds and ensuing developments (and, with broad support the "OpenDocument" format) one wonders what the true landscape in the media, information technology... arena will be?
http://trends.newsforge.com/trends/05/10/01/1548246.shtml?tid=29
a part of which reads as follows; "Even worse, Windows arch-enemy at the time, the dreaded OS/2, showed major performance gains when running on the Pentium Pro. Not to worry, in one tiny corner of cyberspace, a corner thick with journalists and analysts alike, Richard Shupak of MS Research stepped up to do battle with the truth.
Shupak claimed that Windows 95 was no less 32-bit than OS/2, and therefore there had to be some other explanation as to why Windows 95 ran slower on a Pentium Pro while OS/2 ran faster. As evidence, he cited the total lines of code in each OS, and the total lines of code that were 16 bit. Indeed, these figures showed Windows 95 to be more of a 32-bit OS than OS/2. Left at that, it was a perfect deception, with facts to back it up, while the truth of the situation was left harpooned on the beach like a dying whale.
As shrewd and cunning as Shupak's lies were, they were not quite good enough. IBM's Colin Powell pointed out the fallacy in the tale. Since the entire OS is never loaded in memory at any one time, the statistics quipped by Shupak were meaningless. What mattered, Powell noted, was the mix of 16-bit versus 32-bit code actually running in the machine at any given moment. And on that basis, it was the Pentium Pro who was the final arbiter, the blind justice, the even-handed Solomon: and it decreed time after time, application after application, that OS/2 rocked and Windows 95 sucked. Ergo, not only had MS been lying for years about its "all new, all 32-bit" OS, they were piling on more lies to cover up their previous disconnects with the truth.
Now fast forward ten years. Let's talk about the new DVD formats, and the wrestling match for mind-share between the Blu-Ray Disc (BD) preferred by Sony and Toshiba's HD DVD. MS and Intel back HD DVD, and they recently stepped up to explain why. As The Register points out in a recent story on the subject, the fact that Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 will be making use of their choice makes it all a little bit more personal."
Taken from this article about AJAX which reads; "Over the years, desktop applications tied to a specific operating system have become entrenched as the main way to work on a computer. AJAX, a set of development techniques standardized over the past eight years, could change all that by bringing more sophisticated interfaces to Web applications. With that, backers are hoping it can open a crack in the dominance of desktop software like Microsoft's Office, the undisputed market leader".
Against these backgrounds and ensuing developments (and, with broad support the "OpenDocument" format) one wonders what the true landscape in the media, information technology... arena will be?
Microsoft's grip
Although the idea of a Web-based alternative to Microsoft Office may sound threatening to the software giant, the company's products are deeply entrenched, particularly in the corporate market. The training costs associated with replacing Office alone make switching away from it very unlikely, said Joe Drouin, global chief information officer at TRW Automotive.
"The Windows-Office platform has become second nature to people," Drouin said. "There would have to be an amazingly compelling business case to convince me to go out and retrain 24,000 people on an all-new desktop environment, an all-new office environment and an all-new way of working."
[/Quote]
The compeling business case is money. Training your 24,000 users to use an application via a browser maybe $500 ea (worst case).
Smaller, cheaper, less loaded "personal computers for 24,000 users. Less software to purchase. Less by more than $500 per users ea (worst case). And these savings accumulate and grow with each hardware and software upgrade or purchase.
The result is a huge long term net savings to the business. Perhaps they could use it to hire a smarter CIO.
Microsoft's grip
Although the idea of a Web-based alternative to Microsoft Office may sound threatening to the software giant, the company's products are deeply entrenched, particularly in the corporate market. The training costs associated with replacing Office alone make switching away from it very unlikely, said Joe Drouin, global chief information officer at TRW Automotive.
"The Windows-Office platform has become second nature to people," Drouin said. "There would have to be an amazingly compelling business case to convince me to go out and retrain 24,000 people on an all-new desktop environment, an all-new office environment and an all-new way of working."
[/Quote]
The compeling business case is money. Training your 24,000 users to use an application via a browser maybe $500 ea (worst case).
Smaller, cheaper, less loaded "personal computers for 24,000 users. Less software to purchase. Less by more than $500 per users ea (worst case). And these savings accumulate and grow with each hardware and software upgrade or purchase.
The result is a huge long term net savings to the business. Perhaps they could use it to hire a smarter CIO.
Along with meebo and yahoo mail(oddpost was AJAX), here is Tilika - an AJAX powered online shared calendaring and social networking tool I wrote that does a fair fraction of what MS Outlook does. Nothing to download and free.
Many of these tools are a bit disparate rather than existing under one umbrella but then perhaps that's how they will evolve. No one company owns everything. AJAX certainly has a future.
- Not tomorrow but soon...
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by
October 8, 2005 8:33 AM PDT
- IT tends to be a bit giddy in proclaiming its next great revolution (net computers) etc but AJAX exists today in real applications, not just in marketing literature. And it isnt rocket science.
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See all 60 Comments >>Along with meebo and yahoo mail(oddpost was AJAX), here is Tilika - an AJAX powered online shared calendaring and social networking tool I wrote that does a fair fraction of what MS Outlook does. Nothing to download and free.
Many of these tools are a bit disparate rather than existing under one umbrella but then perhaps that's how they will evolve. No one company owns everything. AJAX certainly has a future.