You know, nobody likes this argument, but desktop is still just better. Yeah, yeah, the updates, security issues, I get it, but the tools are simple better, render faster, better functionality/complexity ratio, less gnashing of teeth.
What I mean is, different websites work differently, and do different things. For example, you might imagine a single desktop app that replaces multiple news aggregators, like Reddit or HN. It would ignore the style of both sites, and replace it with a single, uniform way of displaying posts and threads. But, what features from each does it implement? Does it have both upvoting and downvoting, like Reddit, or just upvoting, like HN? Does it support deeply nested threads, like Reddit, or only a couple levels, like HN? You'd run into limitations like this when trying to have a single app do everything, so you'd end up having to have n applications, one for each website you were replacing...
I'm also not with you on the "gnashing of teeth" point. I've never struggled to install, uninstall, or upgrade a website I was browsing.
I'm genuinely curious what OS and tooling you use that you find so much better, because every time I've tried desktop development I eventually give up and go back to the web. It might be because Linux support is always a requirement for me.
The one you want to run your software on.
> what GUI framework?
Assuming you aren't making a game, each OS has a different answer. Making an iPadOS or macOS app? I'd probably go with SwiftUI. Linux? I'm partial to GTK. Windows? Probably WinUI (although I also still like MFC extended with raw Win32 API calls).
There are cross platform tools, but none of them are very good. If you want to make something really great, target the most important OS and make the absolute best thing you can with the native features of that OS. Follow the conventions of the platform and you get a lot of stuff (like accessibility features) for little effort.
> The web is a single platform
I agree. The web as presented by the browser is its own distinct platform. A well written web app will almost always use more battery, memory, CPU, and network bandwidth than a similar well written native app. Sometimes, despite all the problems with web technologies, the web is where something belongs.
I'm still a big believer in the personal computer. The web takes power from individuals and is a step back to the days of dumb terminals and centralized computing.