Will we ever see operating systems with webpage-like interfaces?

[| MM |]

So what do you people think of the idea in general, i think that with more and more web based apps, that a convergence of look and feel should occur (between web-based apps and desktop apps).

I personally think webpages, and the way they have developed, means they convey more information with cleaner presentation than the relatively clunky gnome/kde/windows type interfaces.

I dont mean doing away with the desktop paradigm, but imagine the potential if say nautilus took on a webpage look and feel. As a mere example, something similar to the ubuntu web forum main listing as an example of how a file browser could look. Imo this is quite an interesting concept when applied to the desktop. The notion of having major catagories then have subdirectories, incorporting ideas embraced by google, often accessed apps and folders could rise up subdirectory heirachies, to be displayed more prominantly within their parented catagory and so on.

So what do you people think? Or more ideas.

[Brunellus]

I dont mean doing away with the desktop paradigm, but imagine the potential if say nautilus took on a webpage look and feel.

So what do you people think?

...it would look like Konqueror.

[ssalman]

...it would look like Konqueror.

I agree...

[majikstreet]

...it would look like Konqueror.
yep.

edit: is this | MM | as in MutantMonkey?

[stuporglue]

Or like SymphonyOS maybe?

http://www.symphonyos.com/about.html
See especially the mezzo link.

Appearantly they make the web part of the interface. There is still a window manager though (FVWM).

[BWF89]

I don't like the idea of web apps and desktop apps converging at all. It might be a good idea for like an HTML based office suite that could overthrow Microsoft Office but I'd stick to useing OpenOffice if given the choice.

Things are fine just the way they are.

[endersshadow]

Or like SymphonyOS maybe?

http://www.symphonyos.com/about.html
See especially the mezzo link.

Appearantly they make the web part of the interface. There is still a window manager though (FVWM).

This is exactly what he's talking about. Mezzo is the reality of it happening. It's a neat idea that's certainly not for everybody. Try out Symphony's live CD...it's Knoppix based, so the live CD is fairly decent. I wasn't a big fan of Mezzo myself...but try it out, if that's what you're looking for :-D

[ReviewSpin]

Actually, I have a idea for an OS where the "App Bar" will be more like a Nav bar, that will auto-matically hide when not in use (just move your mose over on the right side and click the small button to see it), but with this type of interface, it would be wise to have a regular look -- well, one like Linux or Mac -- since I love their interfaces better then Windows.


But, who knows if I ever will learn all I need to...

[bored2k]

Just wait til Macromedia gets in the OS game.

[xhie]

Isnt what made Firefox such a kick *** alternative to IE at first was that it was separated from the OS, thus providing an added built in layer of security?

[IYY]

Looking at the newest Vista screenshots, it looks to me that this is exactly the path they are taking.

I think that true web-apps are a good idea, that run inside a browser, are quite cool and may well be the way to the future. But regular apps using webbish look and feel? No thank you!

[Sirin]

Just wait til Macromedia gets in the OS game.

"Macromedia Flash OS"? :)

[bored2k]

"Macromedia Flash OS"? :)
Macrubuntu OS. Or heck, they might just go -yet again- nuts and buy Apple ;).

[Kvark]

We have already seen OSes that use html in their user interfaces. Even old Windows 98 used it. For example you could set a html document as your background with Active Desktop and on the left side of an Explorer window viewing a folder there was a html based description of the folder/files.

Will we see OSes that builds their entire user interface out of only html? I doubt it, the language is made to display text documents, not entire programs. Imagine for example the GIMP made in html.

It would be really cool is an OS user interface made entirely out of animated vector graphics. But something better then "Macromedia Flash OS" (lol) would be needed to do that. My bet is on SVG which is Flash's good open standard format twin. It is based on XML so it is very similar to html. It is supposed to be capable of scripted animations and all that if I understood it correctly but I haven't seen any SVG viewer that can do that yet.

[mrgnash]

Just wait til Macromedia gets in the OS game.

*shudder*

Although that reminds me: Enlightenment DR17's edje system is similar to Shockwave/Flash in its functionality.

[TeeAhr1]

You know what I've been really wishing for lately? Middle-click open/close functionality (like Firefox) everywhere. God knows how many times I've tried to middle-click a window in the panel to close it, thinking I was still using Firefox...

[Brunellus]

You know what I've been really wishing for lately? Middle-click open/close functionality (like Firefox) everywhere. God knows how many times I've tried to middle-click a window in the panel to close it, thinking I was still using Firefox...
nobody move--this is a hijacking!

I hate that. Nothing else in GNOME or KDE behaves like FFX in that respect, and it really irks me.

If I miss middle clicking, it's in Windows, for the middle-click paste that I'm now utterly dependent on from various WMs.

[bored2k]

http://www.pacific.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/bridge.html
http://www.pacific.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/images/bridge02.jpg
http://www.pacific.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/images/stock_photos.jpg
Adobe would make a really good browser..

[Brunellus]

for a second there, I thought you were showing pr0nbuntu beta screeinies.

[bored2k]

for a second there, I thought you were showing pr0nbuntu beta screeinies.
shh ;)

[Kvark]

I hate that. Nothing else in GNOME or KDE behaves like FFX in that respect, and it really irks me.
I am very annoyed by that inconsistant behaviour too. Every program that supports tabs has it's own special implementation. Some programs doesn't even support tabs at all. The cause of this problem is that everyone thinks it is every single program's job to reinvent and manage tabs. IMO it should be the WM's and only the WM's job to manage both windows and tabs.

If you add tab support to the WM and remove tab support from all other programs. Then all tabs everywhere would behave the same. Tabs would work with all programs. A setting related to tabs would only need to be changed once instead of one time in every program. If you find a WM with a great implementation of tabs then you can use your favourite implementation of tabs with all programs rather then only one. You could mix tabs for different programs in the same window and do other cool stuff individual programs with separate tab implementations can't. It would also make it easy to combine tabs with other features from the WM or panels.

[prizrak]

A web style OS desktop would be the most horrible and vile idea on the planet. It is also quite unnecessary, desktops right now can be set up in the way the user prefers them so what would be the point in making it look like a web page? What should be concentrated on right now is increased usability, by that I mean some features that help with moving around the desktop. There was a thread on that 40 suggestions for a better desktop or something like that.

[keifer]

They already exist, to a degree; things like embeded devices ,which have input devices other than the keyboard/mouse, use them. Things like kiosks in stores, gaming hardware, and the like.

In their current form, they are not useful for devices like a workstation, because while they can be *very* good in an enviorment when one task is done at a time, they would be obtrusive in an enviornment where you need to switch between multiple tasks.

The computer desktop may also be slowly moving that way, with projects like Mezzo, Plasma, etc. Vista, Symphony OS, and KDE4 look to be a step in that direction, to a degree. I think this route is more likely to end up in a (productive) web-like interface, as these projects are being developed in an enviornment where switching between tasks is common.

-kkkeifer

[benplaut]

how about making webpage interfaces more like a desktop?

!

[GarethMB]

too much double clicking benplaut