RAD = rapid application development, the business term for "drag-n-drop GUI builders" that we all know and hate. Not having one for the Web is a valid criticism, but if GWT can handle Swing API input then we DO have one.

I'm familiar with RAD, although at least for my employer it's more than just drag-and-drop GUI builders.

It sounds to me like jeffspost is over generalizing and suggesting that Google Chrome OS will only succeed if it's embraced by large corporations. The software hasn't even launched and jeffspost has already figured out it's "one missing piece".

And generalising that it will need to replace Windows.

They are launching it as a netbook OS for a reason. Netbooks is a loose term. I'm not exactly sure what the line is, but one definition might be a small laptop that doesn't replace your main computer.

I daresay that whoever buys this will either have another computer or have no need for corporate apps.

That sounds cool, but I don't know exactly what you mean... I think you might mean that you could create a Java applet front-end (using "Swing API"), and drive something in GWT with that, if "GWT can handle Swing API input". But how would you create the Swing front-end? What would driving GWT do you? Please join the dots - doing this often reveals gaps that weren't clear before, so it's a good exercise.

Taking another view: any Java app can be an applet (if you take care of things like access to the file system). Therefore, we already have then, since Eclipse and Netbeans can be an applet, and thus a web app. Theoretically, anyway. :-)

GWT compiles Java to JavaScript, right? So compile the Swing calls into calls to equivalent JavaScript UI library calls. Barf if they try to do stuff you can't do in JavaScript (filesystem), as GWT surely has to do already. (disclaimer: never coded GWT in my life)

thanks!

Being Microsoft-centric, in itself, is inertia - it can change if there is a sufficiently superior alternative in terms of businesses' actual needs. Google OS can start off in low-end markets (like Toyota did...), and then move up.

jeffspost notes a startup opportunity: webapps for creating webapps (actually webapp clients, but that's less memorable)