AFAIK, Windows 8, Gnome, Unity and others offer desktop html+javascript compositing with support for webservice calls. Some may be more powerful/limited, but it's something already being done.
Even in a thread earlier today there was a post about the state of desktop web apps... node-webkit and atom-shell aren't bad options either.
I always wanted to like XUL, but a shell mode for HTML+JS that can have more control over iframes than is allowed in the browser... it would definitely be interesting. It would be more interesting if it followed node's API (at least for JS-level modules).
Game Dev Tycoon is a neat example of this. It started as a Windows 8 game developed with VS Express (using JavaScript), then it became it's own thing on Steam, not sure if they use node-webkit or what, I can't remember, but it runs smoothly on Linux and other platforms as a result.
Even in a thread earlier today there was a post about the state of desktop web apps... node-webkit and atom-shell aren't bad options either.
I always wanted to like XUL, but a shell mode for HTML+JS that can have more control over iframes than is allowed in the browser... it would definitely be interesting. It would be more interesting if it followed node's API (at least for JS-level modules).