Plain Html and javascript execution offline

Question

Can HTML and javascript run offline like an application? I'm looking to running the webpage offline like silverlight OOB applications. But if the browser closes, I want some way to run the webpage again without going online. Is this possible?

Answer 1

The HTML 5 draft introduces mechanisms for a webpage to be used as an offline application although, obviously, as a recent draft spec this isn't supported by all browsers.

You can also File > Save As and just save an HTML file and its associated JS locally.

Answer 2

Google Gears provides the kind of functionality that you're looking for. Google themselves are planning on phasing it out in favour of HTML5's draft (see David's response) but I think you will find Gears more mature [for the time being, at least], and (perhaps importantly, if you're considering redistribution) more consistent across different browsers.

[Further edit:] The Adobe AIR runtime allows you to run HTML and JavaScript applications on the desktop.