Lab

Free online applications

Web-based applications are hot news and if you haven't heard of them, you soon will because web developers are scrambling to rush them out. Web-based applications, also called webapps, are programs you can run in a web browser without having to install them on a hard disk, and most of them are free.

Typical of the web applications already up and running are spreadsheets (www.irows.com); word processors (www.writely.com and www.zoho.com); business graphics (www.gliffy.com) and project management (basecamphq.com), but these are merely indicative of a much wider range of programs.

What all these webapps have in common is that the websites they're stored on are publicly accessible, so anybody can use them from any PC with a web browser. The files created are also stored on the same public servers, protected by a password, so you can work on your files wherever you are, on any broadband computer, without carrying your files with you - a modem connection simply isn't fast enough.

Because documents are stored centrally, they can be made available to others. Copies of online documents can also be transferred to your hard disk in formats suitable for loading into popular programs such as PowerPoint and Word, as well as in universal formats such as RTF and PDF.

Why webapps are booming

Webapps have been around for a while, but mainly for business users and on a subscription basis. It's easy to see why companies love browser-based access to company data, because there's no software to be installed or maintained on hundreds of users PCs.

The current boom in webapps for personal use is an offshoot of the movement from 'traditional' websites to the new Web 2.0 way of working. Despite its name, Web 2.0 is not a better version of the World Wide Web - it's a way of using the old internet more effectively. Web 2.0 sites are characterised by their interactivity, both in the way the sites respond quickly to user input and in the way that users are involved in deciding the contents of the sites. Examples of the Web 2.0 philosophy at work include the use of blogs and wikis to share information rather than posting the information on a static web page, and the growth of sites, such as www.flickr.com and www.digg.com, where individuals can pool their favourite pictures, web pages and news stories.

The key aspect of Web 2.0 development that has made full-blown webapps possible is Ajax, which is an acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. JavaScript and XML are programming tools that have been used to create web pages for years. What's new is the asynchronous element, which enables a browser to retrieve new page information in the background, while the user is still viewing or interacting with the original page. In this way, portions of the screen can be updated without having to refresh the entire page.

Contrast this with the familiar way of doing things where, when filling in a screen form, you have to complete every box and then click a button. Only then is the entire page checked and the screen refreshed. Mistakes then have to be corrected and the screen refreshed again.

The ability to process information in the background and update the screen dynamically turns form-filling into an interactive experience, with helpful pick-lists and on-the-fly checking of entries. It's also what makes webapps such as word processors possible because Ajax can emulate all the drop-down menus and other tools we take for granted in conventional Desktop software in a web browser.

The Pros and cons of webapps

For developers, the attraction of webapps is that they only have to write one program and it will run on any type of computer under any operating system, provided that it has an up-to-date browser with JavaScript installed (most do). For users, the main draw is that webapps are free and available from any PC with a broadband internet connection. However, if you're going to trust your data to a webapp provider, choose one with a proven track record and keep backups on your own PC.

Some pundits see webapps as the software of the future, but until ultra-reliable broadband becomes universally available they are unlikely to replace conventional Desktop programs. Heavy-duty applications that require a lot of data to be shifted around (such as image editing) are poor candidates for the webapp approach.

Neither will webapps necessarily remain free. Many of the sites currently offering free access are speculative ventures hoping to be bought up by Google, Microsoft or other big players. The gOFFICE online office suite (www.goffice.com) was hoping to be acquired by Yahoo!, but this failed to pan out when the company started charging a monthly subscription.

Whether webapps will be able to survive on advertising revenue and charges levied for enhancements remains to be seen. Let's hope they do, because the ability to use webapps from any web browser is a facility we're all likely to need at some time or other.