While the current generation of browsers and SAAS applications offers plenty of choice but some security concerns, the next generation could turn this on its head, providing greater security but less choice. That's because we are quickly moving to a type of Web application that will no longer be delivered to a general-purpose Web browser but will instead be deployed to something dedicated to that specific SAAS application.

This is the world of single-site browsers and rich Internet applications.

In this world, users don't open a Web browser and then use a bookmark or link to access their important Web applications. Instead, these Web applications are installed and deployed almost as if they were desktop applications. Users launch them from their Start menu or desktop, and the SAAS application runs in its own single-purpose browser window.

This model provides a number of benefits. From a user perspective, for example, SAAS applications can be managed and deployed just like desktop applications. Even better, users will be able to launch SAAS apps with a single click, rather than with the multiple clicks and typing required to launch a SAAS app in a browser.

In some scenarios, these applications will look like stand-alone apps, but they will run in what is basically a Web browser. For example, a Mozilla Prism application is basically running in Firefox.

However, with rich Internet application systems such as Adobe AIR, these Web applications have many of the characteristics of a regular desktop application, including offline support and the ability to create a dedicated and more locked-down security model.

As these single-site browser platforms continue to mature, expect many more SAAS vendors to take advantage of them to provide customized and more secure application interfaces. However, along with these benefits could come increased platform lock-in.

All this said, don't expect to see the browser diminish in importance. For some users, the advantage of many applications in a single browser will outweigh the benefits of single-site deployments. And future browsers are already focusing more on security and key application requirements, such as the offline support in the soon-to-be-released Firefox 3.0.

Will we see the browser as OS anytime soon? If you mean OS as in system that runs your computer, then no. But if you mean OS as in the place where all of your applications live? We may already be there.