Exactly. That Windows is prevalent is undoubtedly an indirect reason for
all this cloud stuff -- it expressly avoids dealing with Windows
directly. Instead you deal with the browser. Which, of course, is where
ActiveX extensions come in...
If everyone was on an iMac or something reliable and secure, then desktop
apps would rule, is my point. Or, to turn that question around: *why*
medium sized businesses like their stuff in the cloud? Only because it
eliminates the local pc as a problem, I say.
First of all iMac and Linux (which I use) desktops are hardly more
secure than a Windows desktop. That is all in the numbers. The more
users the more security mishaps, largely because such a user base is
attractive to hackers. The fact that the average non-Windows users are
more techy than their counterparts and are therefore more security aware
further amplifies this.
The Cloud has little or nothing to do with that. It may even introduce
more security hazards than it circumvents.
The Cloud is mostly about having the same functionality AND data on all
devices you may use. The desktop at work, the old PC at home, your
phone, the shiny new tablet you bought your wife, your friends high end
TV you can now use to show him something you did at work, the PC in the
Internet cafe during your vacation, etc. etc.
The Cload makes verything be about your data and what you do with it
instead of the devices (and to a large extent the applications) you
happen to use at any moment in time.