Comments on: WebOS: a misnomer

By: ben

ben — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:01:57 +0000

want the source code or a download link of demo .. that try on my PC in offline.
Please give me a download link…

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:33:00 +0000

Well – You’re right in the sense that it isn’t a real OS in traditional terms. It’s really just a desktop looking thing inside your browser. Perhaps ajaxDesktop would have been more accurate. But using the term OS tells you that it at least “looks” like an OS the way most users think of it. It doesn’t manage resources in terms of memory, threads, etc…but it’s a platform for building applications.

All that said, I think ajaxDesktop and all these other Web OS’s are great projects and do push the limits on what you can do with JavaScript. Since JS has become a well accepted portable language it’s limits need to be pushed so we can build even more compelling web based applications. This may also push browser makers to further optimize the JS interpreters, maybe some JIT’ing would be nice.

By: Diwaker Gupta

Diwaker Gupta — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:30:59 +0000

*@rami*: How is g.ho.st any more “real” than eyeOS or ajaxWindows? The problem with trying to (re) write all apps for your WebOS is that the quality of individual applications will suffer. You really think your “office apps” will be able to match up with dedicated players like Zoho or Google Docs?

I can see the advantage in having an integrated workspace. But I don’t see the point of replicating the desktop metaphor — why do I need to see folders, start menus and taskbars? I’ll be just as happy if say Strongspace exports an API that allows me to directly access my data through Zoho or Google Docs.

*@zvi*: The definition of OS hasn’t changed. What you are building is NOT an OS, period. I find the phrase “online desktop” much more accurate, even from an end user perspective. Meanwhile, without APIs and cooperating services, the utility of such WebOSes as you call them is still limited. Say I’m at a library — can I drag and drop files/images from the local harddrive onto my WebOS desktop?

By: Zvi Schreiber

Zvi Schreiber — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 06:46:48 +0000

I agree with Rami – you are using a definition of operating systems from the 60s. For years, from the user’s perspective at least, the operating system was about the desktop, application management, file system, single sign-in,… all these features are present in Web OSs like http://G.ho.st and AjaxWindows so from the user perspective they are really operating systems even if they don’t have mouse drivers… they are also extremely useful for anyone who is regularly using more than one computer including people moving between work and home, students using school libraries, people at Internet Cafes etc.

Zvi

By: Rami

Rami — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 06:19:32 +0000

I have different opinion. The Web OS concept is very real not only for geeks but for users who are often using someone else’s computer – whether students at school, people at work or people at Internet Cafes.

To see a real Web OS check out G.ho.st, the Global Hosted Operating SysTem, at http://G.ho.st. G.ho.st provides 3GB of online storage for free and has chosen the very best available storage service for your precious data – namely at Amazon.com’s S3 Web Service.