Slashdot has a post, Mozilla Rising ... As A Platform mentioning Salon's new article Mozilla Rising. While some of you may appreciate the discussion about why Mozilla may succeed as a development platform, one of the most important points is the following: "But the best part about Mozilla is that it is not just a browser. Scores of developers are now talking about using Mozilla as a "platform" -- that is, using Mozilla's underlying code to build non-browser applications, like calendar programs and e-mail programs and even Linux desktops."

Why is this significant? Because Mozilla plugins will run on any platform that Mozilla runs on. Already, businesses are building applications, such as accounting and recordkeeping systems, that are hosted on a server and run by logging in through a browser instead of as a separate program on the desktop. If you imagine that all of the programs that you could need were either web-based, running in your browser, or plugins, which you download and attach to Mozilla, it no longer matters what operating system you are using :)

For those of you who want to imagine what it might be like, check out OEone's HomeBase desktop (see pics). It's currently only for Linux, but could be made to run on other OS's. Whlie the principle's a little different than described above, the end result is the same. No more desktop metaphor.