PuTech Naman!

A couple of months ago I experimented using several web based operating systems (Web OS) - G.ho.st, DesktopTwo, YouOS and Goowy. Technically most of them aren’t really operating systems but rather online desktops with some applications thrown in.

I didn’t really intend to use them on a full time basis (why bother when you can have your desktop OS at lightning speed). But rather as a tool where I can quickly put files from my laptop and be able to work on them from my desktop PC or from a internet cafe.

One other reason was that I had an old PC (well old in the same vein that Hugh Hefner might find dating someone over 20 as too old) which I didn’t want to slow down by installing too many apps. So why not run everything in the browser instead ?

The features that some of these web OS’es had was quite impressive, IM clients, online storage, IRC, email clients and a even a browser. And as A Bugged Life asks “why have a browser”, I’m not really sure but it might be technically possible to have your virtual browser support features and/or standards which your desktop browser does not have. Also for paranoid people like me I like the idea that I can browse the web thru my virtual browser instead of the one installed in an internet cafe. At least you get more privacy and be able to manage your histories and favorite links at one place.

For business users you can even edit your documents thru a web OS. G.ho.st in fact has Zoho applications running on it. Another side benefit of using a web OS is that if your PC crashes you don’t have to reinstall anything except ironically your PC’s OS! All your apps are located online and run thru the browser so say goodbye to backups and restore points.

It’s a dream come true except for the fact that they just run soooo slooooowwww. It’s so slow that you can probably get coffee at your neighborhood Starbucks while waiting for your spreadsheet to refresh.

Ultimately though as our broadband speed increases it becomes more practical to use a Web OS. I don’t see it taking over your desktop but rather complementing it and letting you access your data from either your laptop or home PC without any fuzz. In fact I think future versions of Windows might have some kind of offline and online desktop feature in line with how Microsoft’s Live initiative is shaping up…