Summary
A Rich Internet Application (also known as a rich web application, RIA or installable Internet application) is a web application that has many of the characteristics of desktop application software. The concept is closely related to a single-page application, and may allow the user interactive features such as drag and drop, background menu, WYSIWYG editing, etc. The concept was first introduced in 2002 by Macromedia to describe Macromedia Flash MX product (which later became Adobe Flash). Throughout the 2000-s, the term was generalized to describe browser-based applications developed with other competing browser plugin technologies including Java applets, Microsoft Silverlight. With the deprecation of browser plugin interfaces and transition to standard HTML5 technologies, Rich Internet Applications were replaced with JavaScript web applications, including single-page applications and progressive web applications. The terms "Rich Internet Application" and "rich client" were introduced in a white paper of March 2002 by Macromedia (now Adobe), though the concept had existed for a number of years earlier under names including: "Remote Scripting" by Microsoft in April 1999 and the "X Internet" by Forrester Research in October 2000. In November 2011, there were a number of announcements that demonstrated a decline in demand for Rich Internet Application architectures based on browser plug-ins in order to favor HTML5 alternatives. Adobe announced that Flash would no longer be produced for mobile or TV (refocusing its efforts on Adobe AIR). Pundits questioned its continued relevance even on the desktop and described it as "the beginning of the end". Research In Motion (RIM) announced that it would continue to develop Flash for the PlayBook, a decision questioned by some commentators. Rumors stated that Microsoft was to abandon Silverlight after the upcoming release of version 5 -- this would later turn out to be the case. The combination of these announcements had some proclaiming it "the end of the line for browser plug-ins".
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