Biting off a bigger lump

Can desktop applications be pureed into tiny little pieces and poured out like soup? A start-up called AppStream says it has cracked the code with a technology that delivers software over the Internet in bite-sized pieces,sending down bits of software only as a user needs them. Essentially, AppStream(www.appstream.com) has taken the concept of streaming media and applied it to network-based applications. The company says its technology greatly speeds up the delivery of applications over the Internet compared with other methods, allowing apps to "live" on the network. Other companies with systems for delivering applications over the Internet include Citrix Systems (www.citrix.com),EpiCon (www.epicon.com) and Marimba (www.marimba.com). But AppStream claims its technology is different because it has been specifically designed for the Internet, with an architecture designed to minimize the latency inherent in Net connections. First, the AppStream Server makes its best attempt to segment an application to determine the minimum components needed to fire it up. For example, it might take a multimegabyte program and slice it into 8-kilobyte pieces. On the computer of a user accessing an AppStream application, the system installs a 17-KB Java applet to manage the download process and communicate back to the server. The downloaded app components are stored in a local cache on the user's machine, and the cache can be set to be cleared out once the user logs off the system. AppStream compresses the bits of code before transmitting them over the network using AppStream's proprietary Software Streaming Transfer Protocol. After people have started accessing the application, AppStream begins to adaptively "learn" which components are most frequently used. On subsequent user visits, the system delivers the pieces of code it guesses someone will use. AppStream also records an individual's usage profile and is able to tailor the code it streams accordingly.