Summary

Smart client application development is evolutionary. Clearly, we understand the richness of a windowing environment and the ubiquity of the Web. Developers and businesspeople can equally appreciate the benefits of both environments. The difficulty has been in reconciling these two worlds . With .NET we are seeing a window on a future world. This future world seamlessly integrates Windows and Web technologies where developers implement a single solution and end users benefit from increased productivity. Whether these applications are connected or not is a technological predicament that users shouldn't have to care about.

In this chapter I hope you have gotten a glimpse into a possible future, where no assumption is made about the connected state of any single user ; where applications just run reliably and correctly; and where updates happen and technology disseminates naturally, like shared ideas around the campfire, as long as we all make money.