Galileo applications are client-based (require no server-side components) Java applications that run within a single HTML web page and are accessed and loaded in the same manner as a traditional web page. They provide all the features of a standard HTML-based web page plus a host of additional features that include asynchronous data transfer, advanced UI controls, application skinning, drag and drop, animation, custom graphics and advanced XML processing.

For end-users Galileo applications provide a much richer and more efficient web experience. For developers they offer the opportunity to employ more traditional software programming practices by replacing the maelstrom of technologies currently needed to develop Rich Internet Applications with a single, object-oriented technology that is used like a traditional programming framework. By providing a flexible and easy-to-use API and a comprehensive control library that includes controls that are common to desktop and rich internet applications, Galileo allows developers to focus on what they want their application to do without wasting valuable time figuring out how they are going to do it.