While this backbone provides some flexibility and extensibility, it still provides a rigid framework that can only be bent so far without breaking. Functionality can be added only if the designers of the browsers anticipated the needs of your application directly or indirectly by providing appropriate hooks. A browser-based design may be appropriate if the requirements of the system conform naturally to a browser infrastructure. For strictly hypertext systems, Internet browsers are an ideal solution. The desktop client requires access to local machine resources.
Fast application start-up time is an important requirement.
The system must communicate securely across multiple protocols, browsers, and servers. Distributed object systems offer an alternative to a browser-based design. A distributed object system can offer faster start-up times and support larger, more complex user interface designs. Software development kits are available to provide safe, secure communications between distributed objects. The use of a browser-based infrastructure is a major decision that is going to influence and limit the overall architecture and design of your distributed system.