By 2012, desktop software will be a quaint throwback—replaced by cloud computing. - Inspired by the increasingly crowded cloud computing market

Cloud computing is on the threshold of being mainstream. Google apps have changed the way we work, either sharing info between teams or being able to access documents wherever there is an internet connection. However, its not a complete replacement as it doesn't have the complete package of functions that Microsoft Word has.

There is certainly a place for cloud computing, but in the near future it will be for non-mission critical applications for the vast majority of companies. There are far too many data related questions involving security and ownership. Don;t get me wrong, I am a supporter of cloud computing, but when it comes to data that is vital to your company, do you want it on someone elses server?

Cloud computing serves a number of purposes, but I doubt it will replace the desktop or enterprise programs in use. We will, however, see cloud computing applications being tightly integrated into other software which will help make remote working and team sharing, seamless.

Cloud computing is a grand and glorious thing---as long as you have 100% uninterruptable connectivity. What do you do when the Internet is down? It is frustrating enough when you can't generate communication pieces now. How frustrating is it when you don't have access to offsite data storage? There will always have to a standalone capability with our computers. Otherwise they are just expensive paperweights and desk ornaments.

Uninterruptable internet connectivity or even server access by 2012? Call me a doubter—I am also of the generation who was told there would be nuclear powered flying cars by 1990 and a 20 hour work week. We aren’t the Jetsons just yet.

Wow, who really comes up with these questions? Has anyone at Fast Company actually worked as a technologist in a real-world setting? For email and back-office productivity, we're already well down the path to replacing desktop applications with cloud-based ones (GMail, Google Docs). For many other classes of applications, I just don't see that capability in the near future. I can't see anyone trying to run Photoshop or a CAD/CAM program over a wire.

Cloud computing will be an adjunct and we will see local apps as agents acting on our behalf to utilize the resources in the cloud. Desktop software will be different but it will perhaps even begin to reassert itself over the browser as desktop apps become truly savvy about the web. Look at Adobe, they're getting smarter about this and so are many other companies.

Far too many people and businesses still don’t have fast enough connections to use applications on the web. Think about how fast or slow your web pages refresh.

The big concern is keeping your business documents on a server outside your control. We keep hearing about server hacks that pull credit card and other personal information and once the hackers learn that business information will sell, the it will become a target.

The security fear will be overcome, just like Banks overcame security fears and earned the trust of depositors. People deposit money at Banks and access their funds at ATMS and websites, which is effectively Cloud Computing with your money. Data can be managed the same way once people trust the keepers of the data. Google, MSFT, IBM, et al need to earn that trust, which they will. Then everything in computing changes. No more raised-floor data centers in every Company....that model is as preposterous as having every person keeping their money in their own safe or own Bank.

Without universal implementation of extremely low latency networks, cloud computing faces fundamental limitations in many applications where responsiveness are key. For that matter, even network availability of any kind is by no means a given for many parts of the world that still and will drive app development. We may soon get most of our apps off the cloud, but we will continue to run many if not most on our desktop for a time period much longer than 4 years.

Our office has fully-bought into Cloud Computing, first by effectively banning the use of Microsoft Outlook for e-mailing and schedule management in favor of Google. We have also embraced Google Docs as a collaborative tool, using it for everything from budgeting to proposals development. We look forward to higher-end functionality, but love the cost and time savings that we have enjoyed to date.

I thnk the current environment of "limited" total bandwidth (usage caps) effectively kills this in the short term. Long term, I see this as THE only way to go for many applications.

I'm much more productive with GMail, Google Docs, online banking and the like now that my data is actually free from residing withi my desktop. I' am concerned about security of that data, but it's not really a technological problem that hinders better security, it more a matter of following proper security protocols and configuring systems properly. Both of these are human issues that we can easily overcome.

Many applications will still run best on a desktop. These include multimedia editing, CAD/CAM work, serious data analysis, and the like, so I forsee a world where individual machines are still necessary, but cloud computing will only get much, much larger (assuming that the security issues are worked out).