In the mid-nineties, Microsoft's Bill Gates predicted that "the browser would become the desktop". He had foreseen that users would want to access all their systems through a single interface and the delivery of data would be over TCP/IP, the protocol of the World Wide Web. Essentially, every application could be viewed as part of an internet (to customers), intranet (to employees) or an extranet (to suppliers).

It is now apparent that soon all new applications developed by organisations will be "web-based". How can we be so sure? Simply because the business case for web-based applications is overwhelming. Their most visible advantages are:

• Global access to an integrated data store
• Delivery to any client equipped with a browser
• Lower network costs
• Lower hardware costs
• Zero deployment costs

From a business perspective, web-based applications are simply cheaper to run and maintain. Yet despite this, other issues have to date impeded their spread. The four biggest questions that decision-makers ask of web-based applications are:

• Can they deliver the same functionality as desktop applications?
• Can they deliver the same performance as desktop applications?
• Can they be made as secure as desktop applications?
• Are they as cheap to develop as desktop applications?

Prior to 2000, it would have been difficult to answer any of these questions affirmatively. However, two major developments since transformed the IT landscape. The first was advances in Sun Microsystems's Java technology and the release of its Swing component set. These improvements have made it possible to have a very sophisticated graphical user interface (GUI) delivered through a browser. The second has been improvements in telecommunications and, in particular, the spread of broadband (ADSL) in many industrialised countries. Today, numerous businesses and homes can enjoy the rapid transfer of data over the Internet at extremely low costs. Together, these changes have made it possible to build applications with complex functionality that offer good performance over the web.

The third question - security over the web - has also been addressed by improvements in technology. With Secure Socket Layers (SSL) providing safe routes through the Internet, even banks are now willing to permit their customers to manage accounts from their living rooms. Furthermore, with a Virtual Private Network (VPN), companies are effectively able to operate a wide area network using the infrastructure of the web.

The only remaining question therefore is whether rich web applications can be developed rapidly and cost-effectively? They can now, with MT Studio.