Netscape or IE is my desktop (more or less). I suppose this was predictable but it is striking to me, nonetheless.

While there may have been no motivation beyond simple greed, microsoft's integration of browser and os may have been one of the more forward-thinking maneuvers I've seen in a long time.

Increasingly, the type of things I would have done by running Eudora, Office, or Meeting Maker I now do by firing up a web browser and heading off to some website somewhere. In the past web apps couldn't compete with the slickness, functionality, and integration of local apps. Now, however, that situation heads for extinction. With tools like Flash 5, DHTML, and CSS web pages become increasingly indistinguishable from my local programs.

This is interesting for a number of reasons... First, where does my data live now? Second, who's providing the horsepower? Finally, do we need an os that is more than a web browser any more?

Perhaps an even more interesting idea that I see emerging from this is the integration of OS and information. You would never have to go further than your desktop to find the information that you need. More importantly, everything you do, every application you run, will be backed by this wealth of knowledge. While this is certainly true now, I can only see it becoming more so. The consequences of this kind of access to information is going to be a wonderful topic for another discussion.