Chinchilla is the easy way to create browser-based presentations or powerful applications with a MS Windows look and feel. Chinchilla is a tiny local HTTP server that requires no installation and creates no registry dust. Your (D)HTML, OpenLaszlo, or Flex RIA composes the UI, while an on-board Perl 5.10 interpreter does the work and provides full system access, using CGI and AJAX techniques. A customizable browser window under full server control helps to convincingly fake a real Windows application. Chinchilla as a RIA runtime can be a viable quick and dirty alternative to Adobe AIR. Ideally suited for autorun.inf presentations or fancy product installers on CD/DVD.

The server binary can run multiple, independent instances of itself, and can be synchronized with the user's default browser, a Windows HTA, or its own browser window: Starting the server starts your (D)HTML application, and closing the app window terminates the server. By renaming Chinchilla's .EXE file and swapping out its icon, programmers can create fake MS Windows applications from humble HTML pages - all with the proper Windows look and feel.

For beginners shying away from the learning curve of setting up a production server, Chinchilla is an ideal entry-level HTTP server to test small web sites locally. At the most basic level, Chinchilla requires no configuration - just dump all your files in the directory where the server binary lives and they are served from there. Additionally, the server can be slowed down artificially to simulate network congestion for testing purposes.