Desktop programs are a thing of the past

Welcome, boys and girls, to the computing world of tomorrow! Desktop programs are a thing of the past, replaced by free, simple, Web-based apps that do everything from spreadsheets to e-mail--and more!

Making it possible is Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), a programming technique that gives Web sites the same kind of interactivity and speed that desktop programs have traditionally had. With Ajax, we'll no longer need desktop applications. Our data will be available to us everywhere we go, because it will all be stored on Ajax-based Web sites. Who needs Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) or other makers of desktop software? We're finally free!

That's the hype, anyway. But is it actually true?

Read more over here...