title: What's all this business about Flash, Flex, Adobe Air, Java FX and Silverlight?
body: <p>What's all this business about Flash, Flex, Adobe Air, Java FX and Silverlight? Why would I choose one over the other? and what happened to Java Applets and ActiveX controls?</p>
  
  <p>Oh, and where does AJAX fit in to all this? and is Laszlo relevant?</p>
  
  <p>Afteredit (in response to some "d'uh" type answers): the question is a bit tongue-in-cheek. I know about the various RIA technologies. I am, however, interested in the StackOverflow community's opinion about each - particularly why you would use one over the other</p>