Web OS is not practical at present

[icett]

If you dream about a web based OS becoming mainstream note that this would not happen for many many years, could be decades. The main reason is that the internet is still not reliable, fast and available everytime, everywhere as well as its not free. You have to wait until you could access your Web OS as easily and reliably as you access your personal desktop OS and the data it has. For example until the internet is available as easily everywhere as we receive FM/MW/Shortwave broadcasts on our radio sets whereever we are we would have to wait. The second obstacle is that it will not be good for your privacy and also you can lose all private access to your files on the web. If it got onto the web, it will stay on the web. You will lose control over your data since it would be on the web and you could be stopped to access it anytime by the big brothers. More It would take lot of years for the internet to reach the point stated above since there are still a lot of people who could just barely afford dialup. So use your current desktop OSes be they Linux or Windows and think about some other innovation which is possible.

[master5o1]

I don't like others controlling my data.

[karellen]

....and 1+1=2

[DeadSuperHero]

I just don't like the way most WebOS'es look and work. Run an OS in a browser window? Gross.

I would much rather see a lightweight OS running on a computer than can visually MOUNT web services as a hard drive.

For example, "My Documents" would store your Google Docs, "My Pictures" would sync with Picasa/Flickr/whatever, etc.

On top of that, I'd like to see Social Networking be integrated fully into the desktop. Users on the web would be able to comment your photos, and their comments would appear on your desktop pics.

But, at the moment that's just a pipe dream. Maybe I'll draw some mockups someday soon.


Anyways, my point is that I'd rather keep some of my important files online, but I want to keep an OS on my computer.

[oldsoundguy]

Until the storage servers can prove that they are absolutely hack PROOF, I seriously doubt that any business (and the web based o/s is aimed at business) will risk storage of sensitive or confidential/secret data on those servers. Cloud and the now being rushed out MS alternative are ideas who's time is not here AT ALL. Especially MS. Their servers are constant targets of hackers and are the easiest compromised.
Thank you, but I will keep my information on my computers. Even the idea of using a service and uploading the contents of a disk drive in order to transfer files to a new drive on the same computer makes me shudder! And I don't have sensitive information, just personal information, on my drives. How do you KNOW that said information is kept away from others? You do NOT know. (You are going to take someone's word? Someone you have never met or done business with? Then I have some stock options on Enron stock that might interest you.)