How to know that, the system you are building is a better as Desktop Application than an Web Appplication?

Question

How to know that, the system you are building is a better as Desktop Application than an Web Appplication?

Answer 1

My top 3:

1. I need to use/control the hardware directly (printer, graphic card...).
2. I don't care if my project is platform dependant.
3. Need complex user interface (OK Web 2.0 is better than ever, but it's still hell to make advanced specialized stuff to work in all Web browsers).

Answer 2

It depends on your target audience, desired features, and what delivery method makes the most sense.

It might help to answer these questions:
1) Who will use this?
2) What will they do with it? (think about thinks like media operations, data storage,..)
3) How will they best be able to get this app?
4) What operating system(s) will it support?

Answer 3

Interesting question. in practice the answer hinges primarily on the deployment requirements:

• If you want very broad and "instant" deployment - then use HTML and HTTP.
• if you or your organization have administrative control over the computers on which the app will be deployed, making it a "desktop app" is acceptable.

Most apps lie between those extremes.