AjaxWindows: yet another webOS

Filed under: Internet, OS Updates, Web services

AjaxWindows: yet another webOS

by Brad Linder Jun 15th 2007

While Windows, Mac OS X, and various Linux distributions dominate the desktop operating system market, there's no clear market leader in web-based "operating systems." There's also not much of a proven demand for these services, but that doesn't stop webOSes like ajaxWindows from popping up.

AjaxWindows is certainly one of the more polished web operating systems out there. You get the distinct impression that you're using an actual operating system and not just a series of web-based services from within your browser. It includes a couple of applications like a PowerPoint style presentation viewer/creator, a word processor, music player, and drawing program. Oddly, there's no spreadsheet application.

There's also integration with a variety of web services such as Gmail, Flickr, and Meebo. For example, when you click on the instant messaging application, web-based multi-chat client Meebo opens up. In other words, there's little you can do with ajaxWindows that you couldn't have just done from Firefox.

AjaxWindows does provide you with 1GB of online storage, so the idea is that you can synchronize data from your desktop and access it with a familiar interface wherever you go. But it's only familiar if you use it at home, and that just seems a bit silly.

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: ajaxwindows, webos

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Don said 3:40PM on 6-15-2007

Same here - even though I've never been there, I get "already a registered email address" when I try to register, or I get "Error-Not a registered user" when I attempt the test drive. Dumb.

Joe said 4:24PM on 6-15-2007

It is not an operating system ... it is an application design to mimic an operating system.

MM said 5:23PM on 6-15-2007

Does not work. I'm getting a popup saying Sorry, not a registered user. Same thing even after I registered.

Andrew Schrock said 6:14PM on 6-15-2007

Maybe it should be called a FOS - Faux Operating System?

web said 8:51AM on 6-16-2007

It doesnt work w Opera

James said 11:21AM on 6-16-2007

How much are they going to get sued for when MS realizes they jacked almost all the UI elements from WinXP? Seriously, most of the buttons and icons are either screencaps of a WinXP button, or a very, very similar "homage".

Neat idea, I guess, but I don't see when it would be useful.

Clarion said 10:59PM on 6-16-2007

I registered with no problem, but then it doesn't seem to work properly, and it crashed Firefox.

mikael bergkvist said 7:49AM on 6-19-2007

Try http://www.widgetplus.com instead.

Colin said 7:45AM on 6-20-2007

Wow. I was working up a big diatribe regarding web OS, but http://widgetplus.com/ summed it up for me in complete suckitude: The desktop OS will continue to exist so long as crap like Widget+ seeps from the woodwork.

mikael bergkvist said 9:03AM on 6-23-2007

Whats the problem with widgetplus?
I think it's working pretty ok for oline file management, it's not supposed to be an online webos.
It runs in most browsers and it's pretty fast. :-)

David said 10:42AM on 6-23-2007

The site is no longer accesible.
.htaccess secured

hobay said 10:06PM on 8-29-2007

you give a user and password

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