Hacker News Reader

Minecraft is an application which runs on the desktop... I don't see what you mean.

It's a game. It's UI is full screen and completely divorced from "standard" UI elements (WIMP, etc).

You can call it a desktop app, and you'd be correct in the most pedantic sense, but then every web app is also a desktop app since you run it on a desktop.

Chrome the browser is a desktop application, websites you visit in it are not.

That's right let's not forget about the famous Ruby and Javascript desktop games that have outsold Minecraft...

Limewire tho

How is it not a desktop app? Millions play it on their desktop.

Still, not really in the sense of the article - he's talking about desktop apps like word processors or email clients: Minecraft's GUI is just a big canvas that the 3D renderer renders into. It's not using any windowing components - IIRC, even the menu and buttons were custom.

Minecraft can pop up GUI windows but even mods rarely do it.

Running a server without nogui gets a window also.