When you think of any operating system you would most likely assume certain criteria would be built in such as common file formats (.jpg, .gif, .doc, .ppt, etc.), have basic applications (e-mail, word processor, graphics program), and hardware support. All mainstream operating systems (OS X, Windows, Linux) fill these specifications. The one fatal flaw of all operating systems is that data is not easily accessible on different computers. This has given rise to the importance of browsers and web technologies such as Google Docs, Zoho and offline enabling technologies such as Google Gears. Many have declared the web browser the next gen operating system, such devices as the Crunchpad and Cloud gOS boot into a browser automatically instead of the standard operating system. With high speed internet and advanced browsers such as Google Chrome taking over computer some companies are claiming to have the next big thing called cloud operating systems.
What is a cloud based operating system? A cloud operating system in its simplest terms is a way to access documents and data that represents a standard operating system by letting you access your files from any high speed computer and standard browser (Firefox, IE 7 and Google Chrome). There are three main competitors that are defining themselves as cloud operating systems. These three are Cloudo, G.ho.st and EyeOS. So why do I say that these cloud “operating systems” represent a standard operating system such as Windows, Linux or OS X?
The first and foremost reason is there is absolutely no hardware support. This eliminates any new hardware that could be specifically developed for that particular cloud OS. In effect you need a standard operating system with a browser or a browser based operating system such as Crunchpad or the Cloud gOS. This means that any cloud operating system you are using is completely dependent on the browser and available internet connection since none of them feature offline support like many browsers do through the Google Gears. Any potential regular use of a cloud OS that involves boot up and go is at this moment nearly impossible.
Cloud operating systems also mimic the design of standard operating systems. If we take a look at Cloudo it does sport its own design, a heavily touted feature though is the ability to copy popular operating systems interface such as Windows 3.1 through Vista, Mac OS 9/OS X and Ubuntu. G.ho.st on the other hand does not give you the ability to mimic standard operating systems but its design is similar to that of Windows Vista. EyeOS in my opinion provides the most unique twist in the cloud OS interface and does not offer copycat representations of popular operating systems. With the exception of EyeOS in terms of interface there is nothing new being brought to the table, stifling innovation by copying the bug guys. Cloudo in my opinion is begging for a lawsuit (especially from Apple) with there current replication options.
All three cloud based operating systems give you the ability to build applications with XML. Most of these applications built are widget like in terms of functionality. They also all have basic programs such as music players, notepads, and very basic image programs. Cloudo and EyeOS through my testing and current knowledge do not support common file formats such as .doc or other office files (even though Cloudo advertises they natively support office files). Without these files being supported there is very little chance of mainstream support for either Cloudo or EyeOS. G.ho.st itself does not support these standard formats natively, rather they have a web link that directs you to Zoho inside of the G.ho.st built in browser, many other “applications” are simply online services. This seems redundant and is fairly slower to do than opening a new tab in your browser and typing in Zoho or clicking on a specified bookmark to an online office application of your choice.
The last reason why these cloud operating systems are just representations is because many web services do what these do already and in my opinion do it better. If we took what is the current standard of self declared cloud operating systems and applied them to other services we could call iGoogle, Netvibes and PageFlakes (as well as similiar services) cloud operating systems. They provide XML based programming languages, multitudes of interactive and useful gadgets/widgets, online storage, and the ability to open office documents (and other standard file formats) through Google Docs or other relative services. Based off this information can’t anything on the web that provides this functionality be considered an operating system?
As of today many of these self declared cloud operating systems are not operating systems at all. Rather they are a representations of an operating system. Think of it as a neat looking, slow loading interactive file storage system. G.ho.st actually touts on its main page its five gigabyte of online storage proving the previous sentence. So what is a cloud operating system? Do these self declared operating systems truly deserve to call themselves operating systems? Or are they simply representations of current operating systems that give you a neat and slow way to store and view files like I have stated before? In my opinion they don’t deserve the class of operating system, but a new name until something comes along that is actually as useful and powerful as standard operating systems or browser based operating systems. Until that day comes I will be patiently waiting using the next true OS, the browser.
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It really does come down more and more to it being our internet browser is our true operating system. No one spends as much time clicking their start menu as they do with their internet browser. Browsers today are the central focus of most computing, the amazing part is they are generally free.