Why Mozilla? Why XUL?

Hi,

  Now that Mozilla is no longer overshadowed
(silenced) by Netscape or AOL but is a free-standing
independent project the marketing drive is on to get
everyone to use Mozilla.

  The Mozilla site now sports a Why? special series to
promote all the goodies Mozilla offers the world -
from grandma to hard-core kernel hackers.

  For example, the "Why Use Mozilla as an Application
Framework?" page includes a "Did you know?" sidebar
stating:

  * The Mozilla app framework can be used to build
standalone desktop applications like Komodo, apps that
run on top of the Mozilla application suite like
mozblog, and web applications like the Mozilla Amazon
Browser.

  * Mozilla has been ported to more than a dozen
platforms including Windows (95, 98, NT, 2000, XP,
CE), MacOS X, Linux, Solaris, BeOS, OpenVMS, OS/2,
AIX, and HP-UX.

  * You can build simple but powerful Mozilla-based
applications using just JavaScript and XUL.

  More @ http://mozilla.org/why/framework.html
   

  And the "Mozilla Application Framework in Detail"
page outlines the many benefits XUL offers by stating:

  What this means to you as the developer is this: you
can take advantage of skills you already have with XML
or web technologies to design and implement anything
from a simple text editor to a comprehensive IDE -
complete with all of the interface widgets that you
would find in virtually any major application
framework.

  Another benefit of this standards-based approach to
UI development is that your application is
cross-platform "out of the box". Imagine not having to
re-write your application three times, or not
supporting a less popular platform simply because you
do not have the resources for parallel development! 

  Unlike many other application frameworks, you are
not limited to the widget set we provide, nor limited
to the "look and feel" of the native OS. You can
create applications using our framework that either
have a native look and feel for each OS, or one which
is identical on Macs, PC's or Unix operating systems. 

  You may also further enhance the user interface by
allowing 3rd parties to develop "themes" for your
application. Themes are simply collections of images
and CSS which can augment or replace your current UI
elements.

  Our platform also can take advantage of other
internet standards such as XSLT and RDF. RDF, a core
element to the framework, allows you to define dynamic
elements in your UI (elements that may change after
you have completed the application, such as a
"history" menu item). XSLT could be used to translate
information from web services, RSS, SOAP, or other
XML-based languages and convert them into a form that
you might display in your user interface.

  More @ http://mozilla.org/why/framework-details.html

  - Gerald         


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