Desktop.com
Your Web life just got a whole lot easier

Business Concept :
Software is increasingly moving towards a web-based, subscription model. Desktop.com business strategy was two-pronged. To help facilitate the movement of software to this new model, an extensive back-end API was created to ease the creation of both simple and complex web-based applications. This included creating a developer community to create software, as well as marketing this API to corporations developing web-based software. The other strategy involved a consumer-focused environment for web-based software and information - the desktop. This desktop functioned as an attractive, customizable, and intuitive container for Desktop.com and thrid-party developed applications, and allowed users to save files, software, email, and various other tools and information on their desktop, which would then be accessible from any location through a standard web browser. This desktop contained a full windowing environment, and represented one of the most innovative uses of browser technology to date. This desktop was later marketed towards content-intensive businesses for use as a dynamic content delivery channel. Desktop.com was nominated for a Webby award in 2000 for technical achievement.

Implementation:
The back end for Desktop.com's Luna API was implemented using Perl and C++ on top of FreeBSD and the BerkeleyDB. There were two different versions of the desktop, one for legacy browsers and Netscape, which utilized DHTML extensively, and the IE 5.x version, which added some additional ActiveX controls, XML, and CSS functionality. The applications created by Desktop, including a universal POP/Internet email viewer, contacts, calendar, and various database-centered applications, were written in Luna and Perl, with a DHTML/HTML front end, that would customize depending on whether a user was viewing the user interface through the desktop, or through the normal browser window.

Role:
Web Developer. Served as front-end technical expert, covering all of the DHTML, HTML, Javascript, XML, and CSS areas of the product. As part of a team, implemented the user interface for a variety of the applications desktop offered, as well as on the desktop itself. Oversaw the maintenance and technical design of all of Desktop.com's websites and developer communities.

Links:
See desktop.com's homepage using the Web Archive's Way Back Machine