As I mentioned in my last post, building desktop software, which for the past few years has been considered maybe something less than cool, is now becoming fashionable again, maybe even hot. This past week it was reported Facebook is hiring a desktop software team in its Seattle office. Various experts have speculated on what Facebook is building. Some say it’s a browser, others say it is something related to connecting users’ consumption of media and the desktop experience in a social way. Or maybe it’s all of the above.
In any case, it is great to see Facebook recognizing the power of connecting to users directly on the desktop and providing experiences that cannot be achieved merely through a browser, or at least, the browsers available today. Also, it will be great for Facebook to bring a bit more attention to desktop software development and maybe increase the interest of some younger developers to get “closer to the metal” to provide new exciting experiences.
