It looks like the W3C is interested in our corner of the Web after all -- rich Web applications, with XML markup designed specfically to create these experiences. This is pretty exciting: A new Web Application Formats Working Group has been established, and its first deliverable is a specification of a declarative format for applications and user interfaces. From their site:
"This deliverable should be based on an existing application/UI format, such as Mozilla's XUL, Microsoft's XAML, Macromedia's MXML or Laszlo Systems' LZX, provided the owners of the format are willing to contribute. The format should allow embedded program code. This format, combined with the deliverables below and existing technologies including XHTML, CSS, XForms, SVG and SMIL, should provide a strong basis for rich client application development."
This is a potentially very positive development, and Laszlo is interested in contributing to the effort. We're looking forward to making contact with Dean Jackson and other W3C members involved in the effort.
It does seem like this represents a change of direction for the W3C; last summer, Sarah Allen and I attended a W3C workshop on related topics; at that time (before Laszlo's platform was released as open source, before the AJAX wave) the impression we got was that the W3C did not see this category of markup as sufficiently central to merit standardization.
The deeper developers dig into unadorned DHTML as the means to deliver application-like behavior on the Web, the clearer the need for a solution like OpenLaszlo/LZX becomes. We welome the W3C's invitation to participate in an effort to create a standard around application-oriented markup.
If you're curious to see what a real, complex applicaiton built on the OpenLaszlo platform looks like, you should register for Laszlo Mail. Laszlo isn't getting into the consumer email business, but we are licensing this application to email providers who want to offer an improved Web mail experience. So the application itself is not open source, though parts of it are being contributed to the OpenLaszlo project.
We're using the site as a "living laboratory" in order to see how the app plays in the real world and get feedback from actual users. Down the road, this application will evolve into a more comprehensive "Digital Life" offering, where multiple forms of communication, personal information and media, and sharing are supported in a single, unified on-line experience.
Meanwhile, please let us know what you think of the application. (Reflexive Flash haters can save themselves the effort of typing. Oliver Steele's Slashbot should be able to cover for you. :-)