Web Operating Systems
I love the concept of web-based operating systems. I had no idea that there were 20 different OSs up and running today. The Frantic Industries Weblog reviews ten of the operating systems here and another 10 operating systems here.
I should state here that, while I used OpenOffice for a bit, and I have tinkered with the Google online applications as well as Zoho writer et al, I still use Microsoft to produce all of my client ready material. I'm not ready to switch over to a web OS because (1) I work in Kerala and the internet connection is a bit slow, (2) I don't see anything that offers quite the functionality that I need and (3) the user interfaces still need work.
At the same time, I am going to pay attention as these applications develop. They still pose once of the largest running threats to Microsoft and I am sure that Microsoft knows this. Desktop hardware manufacturers should pay attention as well. any significant growth in Web OS may favor graphics chip manufacturers but will drive a good deal of the processing power back to the server. Server lifetime, ease of maintenance, and operating costs will outweigh small form factors.
I am also going to pay attention to the user interface development side of this. Microsoft has pretty much fixed in our minds the image of a user interface. Some of these web operating systems are trying to differentiate themselves by breaking away from this Microsoft mold.
Glide OS: Screenpic:
I love the concept of web-based operating systems. I had no idea that there were 20 different OSs up and running today. The Frantic Industries Weblog reviews ten of the operating systems here and another 10 operating systems here.
I should state here that, while I used OpenOffice for a bit, and I have tinkered with the Google online applications as well as Zoho writer et al, I still use Microsoft to produce all of my client ready material. I'm not ready to switch over to a web OS because (1) I work in Kerala and the internet connection is a bit slow, (2) I don't see anything that offers quite the functionality that I need and (3) the user interfaces still need work.
At the same time, I am going to pay attention as these applications develop. They still pose once of the largest running threats to Microsoft and I am sure that Microsoft knows this. Desktop hardware manufacturers should pay attention as well. any significant growth in Web OS may favor graphics chip manufacturers but will drive a good deal of the processing power back to the server. Server lifetime, ease of maintenance, and operating costs will outweigh small form factors.
I am also going to pay attention to the user interface development side of this. Microsoft has pretty much fixed in our minds the image of a user interface. Some of these web operating systems are trying to differentiate themselves by breaking away from this Microsoft mold.
Glide OS: Screenpic:
