Google have just announced the creation of a toolkit and set of browser extensions to allow web applications like Gmail, Google maps and potentially all other applications. It works in the same way that printer spoolers do in operating systems:- Work is done offline, and then connected online and synchronised.
Google announced the set of open source tools at Google's global developer day, seeing over 5,000 programmers attend meetings and seminars worldwide. Google hope that the invention of these tools
Initially, the tools will enable Google Reader to work offline, but the more obvious candidates for offline execution are the documents and spreadsheeting applications – expect this in the not too distant future.
For a demo, install google gears, then go to one or all of these:
Simple Database Demo – Store and retrieve values in the database
Simple ResourceStore Demo – Capture a URL and display it while offline
Simple ManagedResourceStore Demo – Capture a versioned set of URLs atomically and update them together
Simple WorkerPool Demo – Perform a long-running computation without blocking the browser UI