A very enthusiastic overview of "native HTML5 applications", and why they are "the future" of app development, first mobile and then also desktop.
Apparently, Windows 8 will also support this approach.
Ingo is well known, many years ago he helped introduce .NET remoting in deep details...
Described "Native HTML5 Apps" urgently need a better marketing name!
Update: Microsoft Ditching the Term "Native HTML5"
HTML5 is usually associated with applications delivered from standard web server, and just cached locally in the browser, and using local browser's APIs.
"Native HTML5 apps" are a hybrid:
they run inside of a web browser that is embedded into a "native" application.
Native app is exposing additional JavaScript APIs to embedded browser.
Application logic is in JavaScript.
Distribution of "native web applications" is same as distribution of "native" mobile applications, by some kind of app store.
The main reason for building "native web apps" today
is reuse of the code between iOS, Android and sometimes web.
The same could be done, and possibly more comfortable,
by using MonoTouch / MonoDroid / Moonlight / Silverlight
Ingo suggested Adobe AIR, that is Flash based that can run as a "native" app
and has embedded WebKit based web browser: HTML5.
AIR already can run on most of OSs!
Interestingly enough, Flash/AIR was main motivation for creating Silverlight,
and it would be very strange if Microsoft would not provide similar solution.
A major issue currently is that Silverlight does not distribute embedded web browser, but it is using IE from Windows, so that is not portable...
In a way, it comes down on power of the programming language,
and it appears that JavaScript / ECMAscript is better than Java/C#!
Not only because it has a portable runtime...
A small "taste" of described applications is available today on every Windows 7 / Vista computer: "gadgets" are essentially zip file with XML, HTML, JavaScript, CSS and images, and have access to Windows COM objects. Trouble is, there are cases when this loose connection fails, and there is almost no recovery. I have seen a few computers where Calendar gadget just stopped working... Empty... No recovery...
