On 18 Oct 2004, at 1:33 AM, Denny Adelman wrote:
if all the
users of your Web app always access it from the same browser, then it is
not an issue, but if you can be sure of that, then a desktop GUI app
might have been a better bet.
I disagree. The key here in my opinion is that Mozilla/Firefox does provide a practical standard basis for building and maintaining reliable cross-platform applications.
I second Jim's disagreement and would add 2 other notions.
First, to restate the obvious: ever since real web applications became technically feasible, there have been compelling reasons to choose to develop browser-based web apps over desktop apps in certain cases. Cross-browser incompatibility has always been one of the major obstacles (but not the only one) toward friendly web software. If this problem were to disappear, it would certainly not invalidate the web application model, as the original poster implies.
Second, taking a note from classic intranet deployment, it is possible for IT staff to impose a browser type on the user population, since the team that develops the intranet also generally works closely with (or is identical to) the team that maintains user computing environment. Fantastic way to avoid many app behaviour problems.
I would have thought that in a service-oriented (opensource) IT environment, medical software developers who offer training and support (or their representatives), would equally be able to impose a browser on a user group in a healthcare setting. Yes? No?
My experience is along the same lines as Elpidio. I've seen users abandon local apps because they can't print from them to local printers without calling an overworked IT Help Desk, which can take days to get action and does not always result in a happy user experience.
Specific Example: I know a clinic where the standard procedure in the Lab is to use "Alt-PrintScreen" to copy and paste patient data into a (hopefully temporary!) Microsoft Word document just so they can print a copy of the lab screen for the patient chart. They gave up 18 months ago on any useful solution to the local printing problem from the Help Desk. But they have no problem printing from a browser on the same desktop to the local printer.
If we deliberately design a software solution to run correctly on older IE and Netscape browser code plus newer standards compliant code, then we have a good chance of delivering a low maintenance application to the users, unlike their current environment.
[wr]
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will ross project manager alliance for rural community health 776 s. state street, suite 102-b ukiah, california 95482 usa [cell] 707.272.7255 http://www.phoenixpm.org
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