Option 3 - True Application:
The third option is to build the web-based tool as an application that must be installed by the end user. This application, built in C, C++, or Java can run simultaneously alongside the web browser and communicate with it using HTTP, SOAP, or XML-RPC. The application will also read and write data to and from the Mouseion database. The drawbacks with this approach are that you're asking the end user to go through numerous steps to download and install an application. A complex installation procedure will turn away many of your end users, particularly if new to the web. The advantages of this option are that the developers are unlimited in scope to what they can build into the application, because they're not limited to the technologies shipped with the 4.x browsers.

Implementation: The client side portion of the tool would actually be a real application (.EXE, etc.) that is downloaded, installed and launched by the end user. The back-end would be a database customized to receive queries and return data to the application.

Advantages: No limit in scope or functionality.
Disadvantages: Difficult to install for novice users.

Recommendation: Alphanumerica recommends that Mouseion not develop their tool as a true application. This would require a true software development process in which an application is written in C, C++, or Visual Basic, and then compiled. Likely, if this option were chosen, it would only be developed for Windows98 and Windows 2000, which then eliminates a large portion of Mouseion's intended audience. Also, this process would require the end user to download and install the application initially, and then install updates every time a new version of the application was released.

Future of the Technology Platform: Developing a web-based application that uses technologies not shipped with the 4.x web browsers forces you to treat your application as "add_on" feature to the browser. The lack of tight integration with the surfing and information gathering process should not be overlooked. The future of such "add-on" applications is not very bright. It's taken Macromedia Flash 3+ years just to get the browser developers to include versions of their "add-on" players with their browser distributiuons. With the intense competition in the meta-data information market, the chances of Mouseion achieving the same level of distribution is very low.

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