Ajax, Flex and Silverlight are pretty much the top of the foodchain when talking about RIAs. Sure there are some other technologies, but none have quite the reach.

Having been a part of many Ajax applications I see where the value is. Partially updating a page or providing a sweet drag and drop functionality can smooth out a difficult workflow for the users.

Flex, on the other hand, is still in its infancy. The possibilities are not fully understood quite yet. There are some game changing abilities Flex brings to the table. One example, have a look at what A.viary [1] is doing with Flex and image editing.

 

If you watched the video, then you saw a user manipulate an image of Brittany Spears, turning her from a hot pop seductress, to a washed up skanky hag (kinda like real life ;). The video was sped up to keep you entertained. In real life, that represents about 20 minutes work.

Web applications with such capabilities are unprecedented. A.viary has a whole suite of apps heading into beta. Here is a small listing:

• Phoenix: Image editor
• Toucan: Color swatches and palettes creator
• Peacock: Computer algorithm-based pattern generator
• Raven: Vector editor
• Hummingbird: 3D Modeller and skinner
• Myna: Audio editor
• Roc: Music generator
• Starling: Video editor
• Owl: Desktop publishing layout editor
• Penguin: Word processing software geared towards creative writers
• Pigeon: Painting simulator
• Tern: Terrain generator (minitool)
• Horus: Font editor
• Woodpecker: Smart image resizer using seam carving (minitool)
• Rookery: A free, unlimited distributed file system network that anyone can connect to and store data in. It also powers our file search engine.
• Hawk: Digital content marketplace
• Crane: Custom image product creator
• Eagle: A smart online application that can identify complex data about an image based on the pixel patterns (i.e. which specific camera an image originally came from)

Pretty extensive list, no? You can sign up here to be a part of the beta [2] launch.
Usable as web applications or downloadable AIR applications, this format opens up some interesting posibilities in the application space. Hold on to your seat, folks, the new application war has just begun.