The Dink Network

AJAX is actually quite accessible. It's almost identical to Javascript and XML, making it quite accessible and easy to learn. It's also a very powerful language. Botrh Microsoft and Yahoo are replacing their existing email services with AJAX versions. And I suspect that Gmail now uses AJAX to some extent. With AJAX you can make fully functional web applications that are as fast and powerful as desktop versions. For example the beta of the new version of Yahoo! Mail and the beta of Windows Live Mail update their interface on the fly and when you delete a email you no longer have to wait for an interface update - it updates instantly, while the request for the delete is still being processed. Also they have context menus that are usually seen in desktop email clients not web based ones. They also has shortcut keys like desktop applications. And thats not the end of their simularities to desktop applications, especially to desktop email clients (they even have a multi-pane system like Outlook).