"Pyro is a new kind of desktop environment for Linux built on Mozilla Firefox. Its goal is to enable true integration between the Web and modern desktop computing...."
http://www.pyrodesktop.org/Main_Page

Opera Widgets, unlike most other browser plugins, can be downloaded to serve as browser-independent desktop widgets. These are managed through Opera Widget Manager, so the Opera process remains open (without running the browser). This tutorial explains how to use Opera Widgets as desktop widgets on Ubuntu 11.10.

SAM Linux Desktop, an Xfce-fronted distribution based on PCLinuxOS, aims to be a complete and modern desktop operating system. Though it has problems that need to be worked out before it will match the competition, it offers an easy install, a 3-D desktop environment, and a flurry of programs to suit your needs.

An interesting trend Ive noticed over the years is the thought process of how users install applications. Most of the time, a KDE user installing an application won't care what the application uses or what desktop it is designed for. They just simply install the application, use it, and get on with life.

For all its flaws, Flash (or on of its incarnations like AIR or Flex) is still one of the few ways to create fully fledged desktop style applications that can be run in a web browser, mobile device, or as a traditional desktop application.

In this article I will compare the web and desktop applications, show the major events in the web app development industry for the last 6 years and based on that try to predict how the web apps will compete with desktop apps in the next years.

The team behind the Google Desktop for Linux

With Red Hat launching a new Linux-based desktop operating system, called Global Desktop for Linux, one analyst is saying the software could be "huge" for Linux, particularly in developing countries that haven't gone the Microsoft Windows route. Red Hat's Global Desktop for Linux is a commercial spinoff of the One Laptop Per Child project.

Eighteen months ago, we introduced an experimental project called Prism with the goal to “to bridge the divide in the user experience between web applications and desktop apps and to explore new usability models as the line between traditional desktop and new web applications continues to blur.”