The Underscore Archives

Hi all and a Happy New Year also!

I am about to get involved in a project that will have a user interface 
to a server back-end. Normally I would do this using regular xhtml, css 
and javascript (with mootools) but in this case it may not be the most 
appropriate as there will probably need to be several quite custom 
controls needed and the target audience will be of the more traditional 
type who would be expecting a standalone application.

As an alternative I have been considering using flash or java but I 
don't really know enough about them and also I'm wondering if there 
might be something more appropriate out there that I have not thought 
of. These are basically the requirements that I have in mind.

1) Cross-platform (at the very least PC and Mac)
2) Able to run like a traditional 'app', ie able to be invoked directly 
rather than by going to a url. Must support a more 'traditional' type of 
computer user, also one who is not too technical.
3) Application must be easy to install. Ideally without the requirement 
to pre-install any support components (not sure if this is possible with 
java)
4) Good support for video. In this case CCTV type video not Youtube 
style. So any video manipulation support or DVR type controls would be a 
bonus. H.264 etc would be even better!
5) Able to support custom types of controls, overlays etc.
6) Secure. Ideally not able to be de-constructed and reassembled by 
third parties. Any keys etc in the app should preferably not be able to 
be extracted.
7) Built-in version and update support would be a plus.

I would be very interested to hear if anyone has any opinions or 
experience in those kind of things and could recommend something that 
would be a best fit. There may even be some paid work going for anyone 
who can demonstrate solid UI experience as unless it does end up as web 
based I will not be doing this myself.

Cheers,

Philip Coombes