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Where is the UI heading? Desktop 2.0?
I didn’t realize until sitting in the NET User Group meeting that not everyone is used to having phat UI’s. Katapult focuses on UI’s, web or software, because 1) I am aethestically driven, to an extent, 2) because we can. Now, #2 may sound odd but I didn’t realize it until the meeting. Let’s dive in and see why.
.NET users are stuck in the same UI, essentially. All of the controls pretty much have the same look. You can embed images, etc into applications but the vibe I get is .NET apps are not typically customized with a great UI. Don’t get me wrong, the controls look very professional but after doing it for so long with the same controls…I’d get kind of tired of the same look.
This was kind of eye-opening to me. In the meeting, Lorin Thwaits, the presenter and a great developer mind, showed #FFFF0000 in a WPF app. This is for (Alpha)®(G)(B). Apparently the Alpha part was exciting because it wasn’t there in the past. Hrmm…that’s odd, to me. I’m coming from a Flash background where I have 100% control over how the UI looks, including Alpha, so it seemed so common to me but I can see why this is exciting.
With the introduction of WPF, .NET developers can, now, do what Flash developers have been doing for years: CONTROL THEIR UI. This is pretty interesting. If you take into consideration the simple fact that a ton of apps are written for .NET, this opens up a new realm of UI development. With WPF, the developer has 100% control over the UI and Microsoft even provides workflow tools (Interactive Designer and Graphic Designer; both found here) so a designer can design a button, export the XAML, and pass it on to the developer. Electric Rain even jumped on board with WPF and built ZAM 3D (short for XAML 3D). It allows you to integrate 3D into your WPF apps. WPF has a lot of potential.
Flash has never reached the desktop world in any major way. I use Flash in the general sense too (meaning Flash Player; Flex is included here). So all of these great UI’s haven’t penetrated the desktop market in any major way. I’m not saying Flash is the only way to get a great UI but it is one of them. Let me clarify one point. You can use Flash with tools like Zinc, SWF Studio, Screenweaver, and tons of other SWF 2 EXE apps to take your swf, make it an EXE, and have your own desktop application. This is very powerful but it hasn’t taken the world by storm for several reasons.
One of the main reasons is simple…it isn’t Microsoft. Why does that matter? Let’s be honest. Microsoft, essentially, owns the desktop market for apps and app dev tools. Yes, there is Delphi out there, Java, and a host of others but .NET is highly diverse and the market share is deep. It only makes sense. .NET is geared towards desktop development (yes, with integration for mobile and web). All of the SWF 2 EXE apps listed above are great but are no where as integrated into the OS as .NET. Zinc, the only one I’ve actively used, is frustrating when it comes to certain core functionality. I wouldn’t use it for anything tightly integrated into the OS. It is improving but not there yet. Keep an eye out on Rebus though (Zinc built on .NET).
Another reason…Flash does not equate to a desktop development environment in most minds. Flash is still thought of as an animation tool. Macromedia started turning the ship to be more “application centric” a couple years back. They coined the phrase Rich Internet Application (RIA) and it swept the market, in my opinion. RIA’s, became the thing to do but these were mainly web-based apps. Now, Ajax based apps are considered RIA’s, if done right.
Keep in mind, Adobe is releasing Apollo. This seems very promising but I’m just not sure how well it will fight against WPF. It being cross-platform is WONDERFUL! This beats WPF. It being built with swfs, html, Ajax, and/or some blend of them (including PDF integration) makes the learning curve minimal for many developers. This beats WPF. WPF beats Apollo with Vista integration and how much it can push/use a system.
Let’s recap…Flash is turning the wheel to be more developer/application centric. Microsoft is turning the wheel to be more designer centric. Both possess the other and have great penetration in their respective markets. Where does this lead us? What am I getting at with all of this?
Many minds are stuck on Web 2.0 but, in my opinion, it is running its course. Some people see what is possible with Web 2.0 and believe almost all software is moving to the web. To an extent, I agree. You have apps like Writely, which does a great job of word processing on the web, that do nothing but back this idea. Where I disagree is when people start thinking the desktop is dead, or even close to dying. Where would the web be without a desktop? Think along the lines of bulletin boards, if you remember those. :-)
If the web went through a revamp and is now considered 2.0, I say the release of products like WPF and Apollo are bringing about Desktop 2.0. I don’t mean OS 2.0. I mean desktop applications. I’ve said this over and over again: right now it is a great time to be a developer. It is even a better time to be a web AND software developer. You get to experience the best of both worlds.
The concept is the same as Web 2.0. We are simply moving into a new era where we can do more with less and provide users with far greater experiences than ever before. Computers are becoming more and more powerful which means developers can take more and more freedoms with UI development (3D, etc) by utilizing such great tools as WPF and Apollo. End users are becoming accustomed to more interactive UI’s, thanks to RIA’s. They are almost beginning to demand great UI’s.
BTW, I’m not the one to go along with the names but it gets the point across. Also, Desktop 2.0 could be what we’re in now (if you think of the old Apple’s and Windows 3.1) and Desktop 3.0 is the new movement.
With all of this typing, speculation, and information, where do you see the common UI going? What do you think of a new era of Desktop 2.0?
Posted by John C. Bland II on August 6, 2006 8:44 AM | Permalink
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