A xulplanet.com-on irjak:
Why use XUL?
The XML User Interface Language (XUL) is a markup language for creating rich dynamic user interfaces. It is a part of the Mozilla browser and related applications and is available as part of Gecko. It is designed to be portable and is available on all versions of Windows, Macintosh as well as Linux and other Unix flavours. With XUL and other Gecko components, you can create sophisticated applications without special tools.
XUL was designed for creating the user interface of the Mozilla application including the web browser, mail client and page editor. XUL may be used to create these types of applications. However, it may also be used any place you would use currently use a web application, for instance, when you need to be able to retrieve resources from the network and require a richer user interface. Like HTML, in XUL you can create an interface using a markup language, use CSS style sheets to define appearance and use JavaScript for behavior. You also have access to programming interfaces for reading and writing to remote content over the network and for calling web services. Unlike HTML however, XUL provides a rich set of user interface widgets for creating menus, toolbars, tabbed panels, and hierarchical trees to give a few examples.
This means you don't have to look for third party code or include a large block of JavaScript in your application just to handle a popup menu. XUL has all of these elements built-in. In addition, the elements are designed to look and feel just like those on the user's native platform, even supporting OS level themes in Windows XP and MacOS X. Or, if you prefer, you can use standard CSS to create your own look. The XUL widgets also support localization and have support for accessibility using OS level accessiblity interfaces.
