October 30, 2003: Alex points to some docs and comments about Avalon, Microsoft's upcoming "presentation subsystem," and how it relates to Flash. I definitely like the idea of mixing code and markup like this (tags for layout, script for behavior). I do have a couple questions, though. First, despite Windows' near-ubiquity, will the fact that this only runs on Windows boxes limit its usefulness for web applications to controlled corporate environments? Second, will this de-democratize interface design, forcing out visual and product designers in favor of CS-educated engineers?