Understanding the two……

A web application is software that uses a web server, like the internet, to get delivered to the users. Web applications can also be run on intranet, which many businesses do. The main reason that can be given for the growing popularity of web-based applications is the widespread use of web browser as a client

A desktop application is a self-contained program that performs a specified set of tasks under a user’s control. Desktop applications don’t require a network or connectivity to operate or function properly and run from a local drive. However, they might use the resources of a network if attached to it.

Comparing……

1. Accessibility - Web applications can be easily accessed from any computer, device, or location that has internet access. Travelers especially benefit from this type of accessibility.
2. Maintenance & Upgrades - Desktop applications need to be individually installed on each computer, while web-based applications just need a single installation. Many web applications are hosted by a third party and the upgrading and maintenance fall under the responsibility of application host. This can be a blessing and a curse both as users of web applications on hosted systems are at the mercy of the host; if an individual user doesn't want the new features, the upgrade will still go forward.
3. Security - There are always risks involved when dealing with online working. Regardless of how secure a host might say a web application to be, the matter of the fact stands that the security risk of running an application on the internet is more significant than that running on a standalone desktop computer.
4. Cost - Web applications are typically substantially more expensive over time. Desktop applications are purchased outright with rarely having a recurring fee for the software use (though some do have a fee for maintenance/upgrade, but rarely any subscription fee associated with an ongoing use). Many corporate web applications, on the other hand, use a subscription model where users are typically charged monthly service fee to operate the software.
5. Internet Connectivity - Web applications rely on persistent, unmanaged connectivity. Critical applications or businesses that are time sensitive cannot risk denial of service attacks or power outages to interrupt their operations.
6. Performance - Web applications may operate slower. The speed may also vary based on how many users are accessing the application.
7. Backups & Ownership - Regardless of the platform, companies need to be sure that their data is appropriately backed up. When using a web application that are hosted by a third party, companies should clearly determine who owns the data housed in the application and be sure that privacy policies prevent that data from being used by the web host.

Judging……

Some applications are more likely to become successful as web applications. Web based applications designed specifically for search engine optimization are becoming increasingly popular. It is easy to understand now why web applications that relate to the internet would prosper, while business applications may have less appeal in a web environment.

Ultimately, the accessibility of web-based applications makes them highly desirable but not monopolizing as they do have some fundamental limitations. I believe that security concerns and legacy systems will still prevent the obsolescence of desktop software packages. Understanding the pros and cons to each business model will help users determine whether a desktop software application or web application will better suit their needs.

Behind the scene

It was quick call from one of our client regarding issue that images are not being displayed on IE8 while checking their beta website. With my surprise, same site is rendering all images properly in Firefox 3.6, and Google Chrome. I tried once again with check back into the code and verified all the relevant IMG tags and it seems everything is fine.

Cause of Problem

The reason is Internet Explorer has issues displaying JPEG images that have been encoded using CMYK, rather than the default RGB encoding. Even Internet explorer does not supports other image formats like EPS, GIF created in CMYK mode.

Typically, JPG files are encoded in a three-channel RGB format.  It is possible, in some programs like Photoshop or Corel Draw, to create JPG files that are encoded in four- channel CMYK color format. Microsoft Internet Explorer is unable to display JPG files that are not in three-channel RGB color format.

Example of RGB vs CMYK images

Firefox 2.x and earlier version also doesn’t support images created in CMYK color format. You can refer below browser matrix that supports CMYK encoded images.

Solution

To resolve this problem, simply open the file in Image Editor i.e. Photoshop or GIMP, and re-encode it by copying the image, going to File > New, and making sure "Color Mode:" is set to "RGB" at "8-bit". Once the new canvas is open, paste the file, and save as a JPG.

Quick Solution for Photoshop users

Check the color mode of the image. In Photoshop, by clicking "Image," then "Mode," you can check it. If CMYK, change it to RGB before saving it for use on the web. To avoid JPG saving in CMYK, you can also use the "Save for Web" option in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, instead of choosing "Save As…" and choosing JPG. "Save for Web" will convert your image to RGB before saving.

Now Firefox 3.x supports CMYK JPG

Good news for Firefox users is… Firefox has resolve the CMYK Image rendering issue and now Firefox 3.x supports CMYK images. For further reference, see Mozilla Firefox CMYK Image rendering Bug Post in their Bugzilla system… https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=44781

Browser Matrix for RGB vs CMYK Image rendering support

Conclusion

CMYK format is universally accepted format for Print Media, while Web Designing always prefer to encode your images to RGB format to avoid CMYK image rendering issue in IE. If your website’s images are not displaying in IE8, check the image in Firefox 3.0 or greater. If it displays there, it’s likely to be in the CMYK color mode. Fix the problem by changing the color mode of the image, re saving it and then replacing in your website.

Ajax is a concept that combines Asynchronous JavaScript and XML for developing highly interactive web applications. Microsoft Silverlight creates rich internet applications using XAML with the .NET framework. It can be used with the JavaScript and also work within Ajax-enabled web pages.

Let’s quickly get on to the comparison.

The Ajax side

To get the feel of Ajax, one can check its presence on Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter etc. Its implementation there has raised the bar of user satisfaction due to a rich client-end interactive experience.

With implementation of Ajax, reloading of pages is much faster without the hassle of refreshing pages and waits. Its compatibility with any browser and operating system makes it a better choice over Silverlight. The latter one still has a narrow user base.

Ajax uses JavaScript libraries like jQuery and MootTools that were one of the first technologies to help deploy sleek and interactive rich web apps. It’s good to use if you don’t want to pay for an integrated development environment (IDE) but still want an attractive and professional RIA functionality.

Ajax, no doubt, provides a good enough UI for the vast majority of cases. But, the reality is that now “pure” Ajax, i.e. just HTML and script-based, has given up to the scope of mergers for extra richness. Silverlight can be put to use to spiff it up more. Ajax applications can be made more interesting with capabilities using local storage, accessing user’s files, integrating rich media and vectors graphics, background processing etc. of plug-ins such as Silverlight and Flash. Contrastingly, the ASP.NET server controls extended to incorporate Ajax functionality can also simplify Silverlight to compensate for its shortcomings.

The Silverlight side

The first benefits with Silverlight are to the developers in coding and designing. With Silverlight development, one greatest benefit is true separation of writing business logic and designing user interface (UI). This “separation” improves a developer’s ability to decouple and isolate the visualization of elements from any necessary business logic. The improved designer/developer workflow allows the designer to work on the front-end UI while at the same time a developer can work on the backend (business logic). With Silverlight, you are most likely to benefit through decreased development time and decreased maintenance costs. For more complex scenarios such as that involving interfacing with web services, running complex logic etc., Silverlight can save tremendous development cycles.

On browser and platform reach, Silverlight can cause graceful elimination of certain nuisances with Ajax, things like XML-driven dynamic pages with validations.

If your team has primary expertise in .NET, Silverlight is a good option for custom web application development requiring complex graphics. On this note, Netflix is a credible example for Silverlight.

There is still a very significant percentage of web users who don't have Silverlight installed and who would just get away if they came to a website that relied on it. Where you're dealing with a more specialized audience or need apps for a well-known user group, say an internal app for a company like intranet, Silverlight can be reasonably trusted as a good choice as you don’t have to bother about its installation among the users.

The negative points for Silverlight at the present date are associated with its worrisome compatibility, user acceptance, and SEO. This is somewhat keeping it away from its application for Ecommerce sites or for open, public-facing applications. There, it can well be a plug-in to Ajax to be used where it makes sense or simplifies the development significantly.

Conclusion

1. Both have benefits and drawbacks as mentioned above.
2. Silverlight is easier to write, but Ajax is less frustrating. You can extend the latter with using Silverlight and add richness for the end-user.
3. There are things that can easily be done in Silverlight but not with Ajax and vice versa. One can complement the other to produce many rich apps.
4. Silverlight was released in 2008 and Ajax in 2005. With Silverlight being newer, many developers would not be at the peak of its learning curve.

The problem: Images displaying in Firefox and other web browsers, but not in Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). This is something diagnosed as IE8 having dropped its support for JPG files saved in CMYK color mode. It’s not so common an issue as saving a JPG in CMYK color mode is a rare manner for saving JPGs; Picasa will not save in this manner, but pre press programs like Photoshop will do.

Solution: Check the color mode of the image. In Photoshop, by clicking "Image," then "Mode," you can check it. If CMYK, change it to RGB before saving it for use on the web. To avoid JPG saving in CMYK, you can also use the "Save for Web" option in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, instead of choosing "Save As.." and choosing JPG. "Save for Web" will convert your image to RGB before saving.

So, if any of your website image is not displaying in IE8, check the image in Firefox. If it displays there, it’s likely to be in the CMYK color mode. Fix the problem by changing the color mode of the image, re saving it and then replacing in your website.

Continuing with my blog series of comparing the technologies for developing rich internet applications (RIAs), today is the day for Adobe Flex and Microsoft Silverlight. Again, both of these are commonly preferred client-side web development techniques that developers are nowadays using to create interactive web applications.

Microsoft Silverlight has recently entered the RIA world. On the other hand, Adobe has been in the RIA market for quite longer. Let’s quickly get started with the tug of war results:

Adobe Flex wins….

From the functionality point of view, Flex is a clear winner supporting Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux operating systems with Silverlight not supporting Linux on any browser. Audio and video features are again richer for Adobe technologies. Flex development with its enhanced multimedia capability can provide greater user experience. Though, the latest Silverlight has added multimedia support and has some enhanced animation effects. Adobe is quite ahead in out-of-browser capabilities as it has several nice built-in advanced features like integrated browser and support for local SQLLite database with automated client/server data synchronization. Again, Silverlight has moved in this direction too with Silverlight 4 offering much tighter integration with HTML and advanced support for trusted applications.

Silverlight wins….

Silverlight wins in templating and styling. Flex styling is based on inheritance and quite commonly regarded as inflexible. Silverlight development has an ability of overriding existing template completely, which is a much powerful concept, but the price is excessive information in your XAML, not easily readable. If we consider pure computational performance, Silverlight is a clear winner. Flex does not have any built-in support for multithreading, which complicates the situation further.

Conclusion

As of now, if needing rich out-of-browser functionality or a program to be run on Linux, go for Adobe Flex. Silverlight, too, is progressing very fast and promises better integration with other Microsoft technologies. Overall, the future is bright indeed for Silverlight and Flex both as both have much ground to conquer in the continent of next generation applications.