Owen -
I generally agree with the point you are making but always feel
compelled to make the counter point that modern browsers are replacing
the Window/Desktop manager more than the OS. Yes, there is a
sophisticated JS interpreter in them, but that is as deep as it really
goes IMO.
With your background, you obviously appreciate that the current state of
browsers is roughly what I think was conceived of when Sun invented the
Network Extensible Window System (NEWS), only with JavaScript instead of
PostScript. I think NEWS would have been a better (technically)
solution if it had been allowed to mature over another 20 years (as
browsers have).
That said, I think it has *finally* come of age... I was an early
adopter/developer in the WWW space and saw the potential but was
frustrated by the ragged pace of such popular movements and oddly
competitive markets (remember when McNeally publicly buried the hatchet
with Gates at JavaOne II I think... after deliberately crashing their
servers publicly at JavaOne I ?).
"the browser" is a very sophisticated but still crufty IMO place to live.
Following Winston Churchill's great quote: "the browser is the worst
OS/Window/Desktop system around, except for all of the others".
- Steve
Slightly sophomoric, but interesting:
http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=38FBC962-C6BF-964F-590BACFE526B0A98
The reasons:
Browser as ultimate OS reason No. 1: The rise of vast, rich Web
applications
Browser as ultimate OS reason No. 2: Easy extensibility via plug-ins
Browser as ultimate OS reason No. 3: Its open source foundation
Browser as ultimate OS reason No. 4: Metaprogramming
Browser as ultimate OS reason No. 5: Multiplatform simplicity and
mutability
Browser as ultimate OS reason No. 6: A clean abstraction layer
Browser as ultimate OS reason No. 7: Better sharing models for libraries
Browser as ultimate OS reason No. 8: Fertile, competitive marketplace
Browser as ultimate OS reason No. 9: SVG, canvas, vector graphics,
great user interfaces
Browser as ultimate OS reason No. 10: Node.js
The article expands. JSEverywhere has been in our minds for quite
some time, but this is yet another articulation.
-- Owen
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