
Is the 'Web OS' just a geek's dream? - divia
http://news.com.com/Is+the+Web+OS+just+a+geeks+dream/2100-7345_3-6174111.html?tag=cd.top
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AF
I think the idea behind a 'web OS' is horrible. Web apps are good for certain
things: mainly presenting and manipulating text. Once you get outside of that
small domain, you need much richer interfaces, and the web just doesn't
present that. In fact I'm not sure it should.

The browser is a great platform for certain things, but everything doesn't
belong inside of it. It shouldn't be an OS. Web OSs aren't that attractive to
the consumer - they can just as easily visit multiple websites in several
windows, and they aren't that attractive to developers - web development is
relatively easy, and you lose a lot of power once you start developing on some
web OS API vs doing it yourself.

I just can't see these services catching on.

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jamongkad
On one hand I have to agree that there was more than one occasion that I would
get all hot and bothered with the thought of building a WebOS. Infact I
flirted with the idea of building a Mobile Phone OS. Thinking that users will
become more affluent in the future that they themselves will choose the mobile
OS that suits them. And like most technologists I found myself out of touch
with the world and reality in general. So the idea of a WebOS, as far as I'm
concerned is a pipe dream. Too many things to consider such as the limitations
of existing web standards and programming languages, browser limitations and
the such. To hardware dependencies that require a native platform to run off
of. Although that doesn't mean I won't stop dreaming :P

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staunch
I don't think it's a good fit for the web. The level of abstraction is at the
wrong place. The web is an OS. The home page sites like Pageflakes are much
more a WebOS than the sites cloning old-style desktops in Ajax.

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vikram
I think there is potential in Web OS. But they can't be a defacto replacement
of the desktop interface. I think the wufoo approach is better than say the
youos approach.

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timg
Sorry, yes.

