[dpark]

Yes. Gmail and Exchange are not apps running on your system. It's fine to say that remote apps should interface over HTTP, but this doesn't address any local apps that currently use custom data stores, unless the answer is to move everything online, which is a much bigger undertaking than making everyone use a consistent data store.

The HTTP proposal also ignores all the data your apps already have locally. Outlook already has your mail. Why go to the server?

HTTP also doesn't magically make consistent free-form queries work. So again, I don't see how HTTP really accomplishes anything on its own with respect to the goals of WinFS.