Choosing a direction for Rich Internet Applications

Currently we're at the point of a big shift/hype of (Web) Application Development. The development of Rich Internet Applications. (RIA). A RIA is an application that runs via the web, probably via a webbrowser though this isn't a requirement.
The idea is that RIA makes this application work like a local desktop application. This could mean the application should be capable of running offline and online.

There are severy solutions for this purpose:

  • Ajax Based ~ This is wat I'm used to, but it has it's limitations.
  • Google Gears ~ Browser Plugin Based. Look Nice, browser plugin offline application use
  • Adobe FLEX/Flash ~ Via the Flash plugin that's installed on almost every PC
  • Adobe Air ~ To run applications from the desktop
  • Microsoft Silverlight ~ Microsoft attempt to join the club
  • JavaFX ~ Beta, Looks nice. unfortunally I'm not a big fan of the large overhead the Java plugin has.
  • Ajax isn't an ideal solution because it never gives me access to the local user's PC and doesn't work offline.

    Now is my Problem, what direction should I choose?! Staying with Ajax for now seems like a safe choice, because it will run probably on the most platforms..

    This is something that requires some good Research!

    Microsoft Automatic Update Reboots

    After loosing some data thanks to the nice Microsoft autmatic update reboot. I've decided to disable these stupid reboots. Who ever invented this "great" feature should be kicked very hard!!

    Disable Reboots for This Run

    Execute this at the commandline:

    net stop wuauserv
    

    Or a bit more user friendly

    net stop "automatic updates"
    

    Much Better is to disable the updates

    Start, Run "gpedit.msc" to bring up the group policy editor. Then navigate to the folder

    Local Computer Policy   ( Dutch versions: Beleid voor lokale computer)
    Computer Configuration ( Dutch versions: Computerconfiguratie )
    Administrative Templates ( Dutch versions: Beheersjablonen )
    Windows Components ( Dutch versions: Windows-onderdelen )
    Windows Update
    

    There are two settings and both will work, so it's your choice. Either enable No auto-restart for schedule Automatic Updates installations or set Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations to a long time interval, like 1440 minutes.

    I found the information above on the following URL:

    http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000294.html