Yes, of course its possible.

No, to answer the question directly.
To run the software in windows, it needs to be .exe. You can on the other hand ZIP the exe file so that people download ZIP file instead. Not sure why complicate really as unless you don't spam, nobody will be afraid to download .exe from a trusted source. It's not like you will send emails with the software attached to it, will you?

Hello, T. Yes to both. Certainly it's possible.

The only catch is that without using an exe, it's hard to have an idiot-proof installation. The most straightforward way would be to design your software as a website, being sure to use relative links throughout. Then zip up the whole site along with a readme.

The user will just have to unzip the site on their hard drive and double-click on the index.html in the root folder, which will open in their default browser.

Note that you can use JavaScript to make the application as complex and interactive as you like. It doesn't have to be limited to what static web pages can do.

This solution has the big advantage of being cross-platform. It will work equally well on PC, Mac, Linux, as long as an unzip program is available.

HTH.

Steve

HTML Executable - Website and Ebook Compiler - Home

Steve's method is probably the best due to its simplicity, however some people may find the installation process (unziping the files to a location on your hard drive and creating a desktop shortcut to index.html) a bit daunting. Also, unless you provided instructions for changing the shortcut icon it will inherit the icon of the users default web browser.

Normally I'd consider something like Inno Setup Compiler to make the installation user-friendly, however this would create a "setup.exe" file that the OP does not want.

One other option would be to use Adobe Air. Admittedly this does require the initial use of an exe file to install the Air client, however most people won't object to that since the client is distributed by Adobe and they are considered by most to be a trusted source. Your application is distributed as a ".air" file, and you can code it with HTML and and enhanced version of JavaScript that includes support for accessing the local file system. Air applications are compiled to use an installer application that can create the icon and Program menu items and its compatible with PC, Mac and LINUX installations.

This might be an overkill for such a simple application but I thought I'd mention it.

Bill

Hey. Why not try executable jar file? Made in java! Can use swing or swt, webservices to communicate with your server. Is that alright?

you could use adobe air.. this would make any app you create cross platform.. and maybe link it to you domain content via a membership script. ie.. the app start up and displays a browser windows.. you login and have all your content available..

If you do not want it to be an exe you can make them as html documents with javascript as mentioned, then (and not sure on the software that would do this) compile them into an "HTA" (Html Application) which would act almost like a exe but it is not.