Microsoft's Longhorn, Three New Technology Pillars
If Longhorn succeeds, XAML smart clients could eventually replace the HTML Web apps that now rule enterprise computing by default. Microsoft has long argued that browser-based apps are a step backward and should be replaced by smart, Internet-aware client applications that exploit all that excess processing power at the edge of the network (that is, desktop computers running Windows, of course). With a new technology called ClickOnce, users can download and install a "smart client" on the desktop, which then updates itself automatically as needed. Amazon has already previewed a smart 3-D shopping client that shows off this capability.
So we’ve come full circle. The desktop is king again, according to Microsoft?except that XML is making the physical location of desktop applications less and less important. With Avalon, WinFS and Indigo connecting Windows to everything, will it matter where applications live?
