When was the last time someone told you about an app idea and you had any vision of a Win32 (or WPF) app?
What does a specific widget toolkit have to do with native applications in general?
Sure, there are some legacy and niche apps that are native on desktop
People still use office suites, raster and vector graphics editors, CAD, 3D modelers, meshing and texturing tools, media players, P2P clients, text editors, various format readers and writers, etc. that are largely dominated by native.
Even most non-HTTP network clients (like IRC and FTP) are still predominantly used as native apps because of the far superior experience they bring.
You went on to list a bunch of niche app classes except for two:
1) Office suites --> Largely a legacy app suite... and web use is increasing for both Office and due to Google Apps.
2) Media Players -- Playing local media is done by native apps, but that is becoming an increasing niche scenario. I posit that Netflix, Pandora, and YouTube dominate other media players.
The most important native app that most people use is their web browser. :-)
I'm sorry to say, but your definitions of "niche" and "legacy" are extremely heterodox and I can't have much of an argument under these semantic constraints.
By legacy I suspect it is meant that the category is finalized in its current form. All major new software will be web-based, and the only desktop software being made going forwards is the one which was already being made. Office and photoshop aren't goin anywhere soon, but the competitor that replaces them will be web-based.
Not that I think it's particularly true. I think the desktop form factor is going away, but what replaces it is not so much web as it is responsive / adaptive, and web is a subcategory of that, with mobile being another. Having a UI which is only usable through keyboard and mouse sitting behind a desk just doesn't cut it anymore.
I think text editors should be included. I switched from Textmate to Atom and have not looked back. For everyday tasks I cant tell the difference performance wise.
What does a specific widget toolkit have to do with native applications in general?
Sure, there are some legacy and niche apps that are native on desktop
People still use office suites, raster and vector graphics editors, CAD, 3D modelers, meshing and texturing tools, media players, P2P clients, text editors, various format readers and writers, etc. that are largely dominated by native.
Even most non-HTTP network clients (like IRC and FTP) are still predominantly used as native apps because of the far superior experience they bring.