Option 4 - Mozilla Application:
The fourth option is to use Mozilla. It's important to understand that Mozilla is more than a web browser -- instead, it's more like an application framework. The web-based tool built using this option would require that Mozilla be installed on the client machine, but would run independently of the web browser component. This is similar to how web-based tools written in Java use a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to interact with the web browser and remote databases. The client-side tool would be built using Extensible User-Interface Language (XUL), JavaScript, and CSS. The drawbacks to using this option are that Mozilla is still under development, and currently has a small installed base. The advantages are that developers are unlimited in scope with their development options, and that because XUL is a subset of XML, your data is in a format that can be used for future expansion and interoperability.

Implementation: The front-end of this tool would be built entirely in XUL, CSS, and JavaScript and would be enclosed entirely within the browser application framework. Deployment would happen either through an encrypted email or through web-based software updating (it's possible to update Mozilla via the web, without any software downloading required).

Advantages: Robust application framework allows for future development. Completely cross-platform.
Disadvantages: Still under development, small installed user base.

Recommendation: We recommend that Mouseion not consider Mozilla as an immediate solution. The technologies being integrated into Mozilla are clearly the direction the entire web is going. However, Mozilla is so far ahead of the curve, technology-wise, that building a tool right now on top of Mozilla would be premature. We'd like Mouseion to keep an eye on Mozilla technology and consider it for future technological development of their meta-tools and web-based services.

Future of the Technology Platform: Mozilla is the future. With complete standards-compliance and a set of technologies that are being developed for future web-based functionality, Mozilla is clearly a next-generation web browser and application framework. Within a year or so, companies will be able to do things with Mozilla that are impossible to do with the 4.x browsers.

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