This is a sponsored article in association with Microsoft

The line between your desktop and the internet has been blurring for some time.

Online services such as the Windows Live suite do a good job of delivering services desktop packages used to perform, and even the venerable Microsoft Office comes in a web-based version.

But it hasn't been a one-way street, because the best online applications can burst out of the browser and deliver the best of the web to your desktop.

Tesco's new Virtual DVD, or vDVD, is a great example of an out-of-browser experience. When you buy certain DVDs in Tesco you can download the virtual DVD, which enables you to watch the movie on your PC or Mac together with a selection of exclusive online extras and goodies such as ringtones and games. It's great for anyone whose laptop doesn't have a DVD drive, or who likes a backup of their purchases, and the whole thing is written in Silverlight.

If you're thinking "isn't that a browser plugin?" you're right. The same technology that web designers can use to light up their sites can also deliver Rich Internet Applications, or RIAs for short, and they can run just as happily on the desktop as they do in the browser.

RIAs could be media players, such as Thirteen23's TED Video Browser, or they could be fully-fledged software packages such as the Sobees Twitter client.

DESKTOP POWER: Silverlight is great for bringing web-based services to the desktop, as Sobees does here with Twitter, Facebook and other social networks

Like many RIAs, the Sobees software runs in the browser but becomes a desktop application when you right-click and choose the "Install on this computer" option. It's one of several social networking applications that use the flexibility of Silverlight to deliver out-of-browser applications: there's also an excellent Facebook client, and the popular Seesmic Desktop 2 for Twitter can handle Twitter, Facebook and Buzz simultaneously. You can even expand it with plugins.

It's not just social networking, though. Thumba is a free image editor that provides a range of brushes, adjustments and effects to make every picture perfect, while eBay's Simple Lister makes selling your stuff on the auction site even easier. It enables you to list your item by finding similar ones from other sellers, provides sensible pricing advice on the items you're selling, and even enables you to crop, resize and edit your photos to show your items in the best possible light. Whether you're a Power Seller or just an occasional auctioneer, if you use the global eBay.com site it's a handy tool to have.

SELL MORE: The eBay Simple Lister, currently in beta, is a handy tool for auctioneers: it speeds up the listing process and helps you show your stuff to its best advantage

Another good example of what's possible is the RedCritter App Gallery, which uses Silverlight to deliver a range of applications or "apps" for Microsoft Outlook.

There are apps that integrate online services such as Bing Maps, Twitter and Office Docs, and the whole thing is free for individual use. It's a great example of the way in which Silverlight can blur the line between online services and desktop software, and how a connected desktop can make everyday tasks easier.

IMAGE EDITING: The excellent Thumba image editor works in your browser or runs as a stand-alone desktop application, and it's powerful stuff