...
OpenLayers is an open source Javascript library for delivering dynamic map content to any web page. It can display map tiles and markers loaded from any source and is supported by the open source community. By abstracting out the server side and setting up a common interface between the client and the server side, any map service or custom coded library can provided content and functionality to the client removing the limitation of waiting for the commercial vender to provide new features and bug fixes. User interaction will also be improved since the clients have more control over rendering and visualization; however, some of the advanced rendering capabilities provided by ArcIMS would have to be custom coded and there will be more computational load on the client. This increased computational load is partially mitigated by the increasing computational power available to common users.
Figure 2. Proposed Architecture