Race to Web Apps Not Just About Google and Microsoft

Last week I came across this Reuters article, which reported from the Web 2.0 Summit on an interesting bit of news coming from the mouth of Adobe's CEO Bruce Chizen.

The news? That Adobe is working on bringing all of its software to the online environment.

Often when talking about the movement away from desktop applications to hosted applications, the two main topics are: what's Microsoft doing? and what's Google doing?

But we shouldn't forget to keep any eye on a number of other companies, in particular Adobe.

Adobe made its name be developing a rich portfolio of high-powered desktop applications for manipulating all sorts of media: video, audio, images, motion graphics, etc.

Since their acquisition of Macromedia in '05, they've increasingly turned their attention to the Web.

For example, their launch of a hosted Photoshop app and Adobe Remix, an online video editing tool.

They're also stepping out beyond their core areas and into things like office productivity tools through the acquisition of a site called Buzzword, which lets you create documents through a slick interface in your browser. (I'm trying it out now and will be writing up some thoughts soon.)

Chizen admitted that this push online is a long-term goal rather than a near-term announcement, but considering the power and popularity of their desktop apps; the fact that they control the Flash, Flex, and AIR platforms (more on AIR soon); and their interest in branching out beyond their core areas of interest, it behooves anyone interested in web applications to keep a close eye on what they're doing and not get caught up in the hype that's built up around the battle between Google and Microsoft.

I know I, and in turn my readers, will be kept up to date as the race from the desktop to the Internet continues to heat up.