[Suan]

This thought has been in my head ever since I read this HN comment last night: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5199006

To everyone saying that this has been tried and failed with Java Applets / Silverlight / Flash: what those technologies did was try to shoehorn app-like environments into the browser, which of course annoyed users because it broke all kinds of expectations when compared to visiting regular HTML pages.

What I (and I think, the OP) have in mind is an actual 2nd "browser". A different standalone app. I envision something where "webapp" authors can post manifests at URL endpoints which define the UI and behavior (not unlike styling in Android), and this 2nd browser will "render" the webapp using native widgets and controls. This brings with it a number of things:

  - OMG! The basic keyboard shortcuts all my other native apps have are now available, instead of some poorly hacked-together javascript-detected version
  - Rich user interaction with the app and the controls is now a first-class citizen - no more weird highlighting of the entire page, or unexpected popping-up and disappearing of elements on misclicks
  - Right click can actually be used, without hacks!
  - Opening a new "window" with a new app actually creates an OS-level window with the icon and name being the webapp's favicon - furthering the notion that you're actually using an app and not visiting a website.
  - It still retains the main advantages of the web - it's cross-platform and ubiquitous (and users don't have to go through the hassle of explicitly installing and updating native apps)
  - I'm sure developing highly interactive webapps for this platform would be a lot simpler, more fundamentally sound, and more enjoyable than the huge hack that is HTML5/AJAX now
  - etc etc

It would really surprise me if nobody has thought through this idea in more detail than me, or if there isn't someone out there working on something like this already...

(EDIT: formatting)