Client apps dying a slow, painful death

If you haven't noticed yet, desktop software - where you run this strange thing called an "installer" on an "operating system" - is dying a slow and painful death. Oh sure, you will likely still do some HD video editing and photo manipulation on Windows 7 or 8, and maybe play Crysis 3, but by then the whole world will have switched to the Web. Here are a few recent developments, all pointing to the demise of the desktop.

1. Webbalert noted (by way of Om and NewTeeVee) that Joost, the video streaming software, is now moving to a Web version and ditching the desktop. NewTeeVee tested the new service, which is actually a browser plug-in, and reports it is more socially aware with features that let you chat about videos and share RSS feeds. Why is this so important? Because Joost just launched about a year ago.

2. Google released their first operating system - I mean, browser - to critical and widespread acclaim. It is the first real step for Google in capturing the hearts and minds of those still using Microsoft Outlook, and may point to the first milestone in their defeat of the desktop. Now if it only worked right for me and figure dout how to get the hype back.

3. Microsoft uncorked a new ad series that is so corny and goofy (full disclosure: I chuckled a couple of times, unlike Preston Gralla, who didn't seem to think it was funny at all) that it seems like a last ditch effort to save the desktop. If the company is not working overtime to port their desktop suites to the Web right now - or, I should say, if they have not been doing this secretly for the past few years - the desktop debate is probably already over. Case closed, Google won.

4. Amazon is quietly becoming a Web-enablement company. (And you thought they just sold books!) They help companies build Web applications and store their data online. In five years, they could drop their e-commerce business altogether and focus on being the company that enables the Web.

5. Adobe is playing in both worlds. They have a photo editing app on the Web that pretty much meets the needs of most users, along with a bevy of desktop apps. Most importantly, their Adobe AIR platform, which helps you build highly portable Web apps, is a sign of the times. And the next Flash release will be a true enabler for sites like Picnik.

6. The desktop has reached a performance wall. Processors are only getting incrementally faster, storage is now so cheap that it's a commodity purchase. Companies like Dell have fallen on hard times of late, and it seems that everyone who wants to buy a computer probably has one already.

7. Major Web brands like MySpace and Hulu are getting all of the licensing deals. Music and movies are not just going digital, they are are going online and leaving client apps like Napster in the dust, now fodder for big box retail. Anytime you go to a Web site and you are prompted to download a desktop client, be incredulous because it means the site does not have the infrastructure to support real Web 2.0.