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I disagree with this. An OS is whatever apps run on, and you could write things that most of the next generation of web apps would run on. I believe Parakey was (and perhaps still is) intended to be such a platform.
More over developing apps is still left to programmers (and a select group of them who are always interested in learning any new platform/language), it doesn't make it easier for Joe Average to do any sort of involved tasks.
Specifically with YouOS (the only one I tried), why do I need to understand applications and installation?
People want to ability to control their computers, not just use them. As Hamming said the purpose of computing is insight. If all you can do is install a new calculator, I don't think I can be bothered. I've got one which works just fine.
Just moving the desktop to the browser isn't enough of a differentiator.
Maybe this model might work for mobile phones, which is unlikely to have the full range of apps that a desktop has.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does anyone use any of these services? I've always thought it was best to let the underlying real operating system take care of windowing and let each URL be one application.
I have same feeling. Youos is wonderful but I always feel it waste too much screen space. On the other hand current browser is not very suitable for running multiple web apps also. Maybe we need a better container...
We can put different page ('apps') in different tabs and windows, which is perfect for running multiple apps.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have same feeling. Youos is wonderful but I always feel it waste too much screen space. On the other hand current browser is not very suitable for running multiple web apps also. Maybe we need a better container...
> current browser is not very suitable for running multiple web apps We can put different page ('apps') in different tabs and windows, which is perfect for running multiple apps.
Current browsers are designed for maximum surfing productivity and not dedicated to provide a perfect web application container.
I disagree with this. An OS is whatever apps run on, and you could write things that most of the next generation of web apps would run on. I believe Parakey was (and perhaps still is) intended to be such a platform.
The pertinent question is: where do today's systems fail us in an always or often-connected world? Maybe you'd work on the networking stack, providing services that made transferring between connections as seamless as possible (hopping from public wi-fi to 3G to WiMax, and prioritizing traffic based on network bandwidth and costs). Maybe we change filesystems to better support synchronization - for example, build in better change tracking so that we can synchronize using the minimum amount of bandwidth. Maybe you'd look for ways to be able to transfer the state of your applications, so you can work on one machine, and then continue working on your phone, then on your hotel TV, then back to the original machine. What about collaboration and communication? How can we build applications that seamlessly combine web information with local information (maybe even blurring the difference)? Not everything belongs in the OS, but the supporting functionality certainly does.
None of these ideas are particularly new, but today's software stack is in need of some pretty serious evolution to get the most out of the promise of a connected world. Javascript based desktops are an interesting prototype - maybe Javascript & HTML would be a good technology for portable applications. I'm not going to dismiss the bigger need because today's 'WebOS' systems are little more than toys...
I agree that a 'WebOS' is slightly silly, but I believe it to be a marketing name for a much stronger concept - the 'InternetOS'. Today's OSes were largely built for a disconnected world - the 'my machine is an island' scenario - which isn't necessarily the case today. The pertinent question is: where do today's systems fail us in an always or often-connected world? Maybe you'd work on the networking stack, providing…
I agree that a 'WebOS' is slightly silly, but I believe it to be a marketing name for a much stronger concept - the 'InternetOS'. Today's OSes were largely built for a disconnected world - the 'my machine is an island' scenario - which isn't necessarily the case today. The pertinent question is: where do today's systems fail us in an always or often-connected world? Maybe you'd work on the networking stack, providing…
Why can't we just have an internet FS ? Compile all the apps down to a few common byte code formats and allow for namespace control via chrooting and similar mechanisms. No more web browser! We'd need to make symlinks more powerful, to enable opening a connection -- but there'd be little in the way of special UI required.