You can still have desktop apps that can be accessed remotely at home or wherever.

Our apps can be installed as what we call a "small client" app ... 2 DLLs and one EXE installed (just copied) on the workstation, everything else downloaded automatically, as needed, by reflection from a web server ... and all communication done through web services. It also works as a "no client" app, where simply by accessing the EXE via a URL, it can be run without having to install anything at all on the workstation (other than to have the .NET Framework already on the workstation).

Reflection is what enables this whole methodology to work and it's pretty cool (it's a teeny bit slower than having the "full client" installed on the workstation, but most of the time it's not a noticeable slow-down).

Desktop apps are certainly still viable. =0)

~~Bonnie




>>"the desktop is dead"
>>
>>A bit premature. Our whole business is built on the desktop and our clients have not asked for anything web-centric yet. In fact they ask us to put more features on the desktop
>
>What I actually said was "for my money, the desktop is dead".
>
>If I were you though, I think I would start to diversify a tad. When a competitor comes along in your space with a system that allows your users to access their system when at home or at a clients' premises ie., away from their desktop, you might just start to have a problem.
>
>I work for a world-wide accountancy software company. Our users asked for more features on the desktop until competitors came along with SaaS based solutions and now, we have a fight on our hands.
>
>>. It would depend on your targeted market.
>
>Wouldn't argue with that.