The future of OSs

silvine

How long do you think it will be before we get an OS that is truly integrated into the browser.

I know Citrix have virtual desktops for business users but when will the home user finally get a product that allows them to run all their apps from any PC, Windows or otherwise?

conceited

When we all get 1 gig connections.

ntlbell

you don't make much sense.

an OS intergrated into the browser?

wtf

silvine

Me or conceited?

ntlbell

silvine wrote: »

Me or conceited?

you

aidan_walsh

Terminal servers? The past of OSes, perhaps?

ntlbell

aidan_walsh wrote: »

Terminal servers? The past of OSes, perhaps?

So the ISP would host the terminal server;s for it's "home" users so they can logon from anywhere to use apps that are hosted somewhere else bar than there home?

the whole things sounds like a bag of balls

silvine

I'm talking about using the power of cloud computing to access your applications, documents and files.

Basically I log in from my browser on any computer, access my own "virtual desktop" and do everything I need to do from that browser.

I'm talking about the next step for services like Google docs, mobile me etc etc. When will they replace Vista, Leopard etc? The BBC had programme on tv (Click) about it recently.

ntlbell

silvine wrote: »

I'm talking about using the power of cloud computing to run your various applications.

Basicallly I could log in from my browser on any computer, access my own "virtual desktop" and do everything I need to do from that browser.

I'm talking about the next step for services like Google docs, mobile me etc etc. When will they replace Vista, Leopard etc?

you can do it all ready without cloud computing or anything else..

logmein.com lol

what's going to run on the pc that you open the browser on?

you just turn the pc on and a browser loads?

lol

no matter what there will be a need for a client os be it some suped up version of windows CE or trimmed down NetBSD

silvine

The OS that runs the PC would be a stripped down, light weight version of previous OSs. Surely with cloud computing a lot of day-to-day applications can be taken off the computer and online. This could even reduce the need to have powerful PCs. I know some businesses do this but when will it be common place for home users (if ever)

You have to concede OSs are going to integrate more and more with the internet. If this isn't the future of OSs, what is? Are they going to get bigger and more feature rich or smaller and more focused?

ntlbell

silvine wrote: »

The OS that runs the PC would be a stripped down, light weight version of previous OSs. Surely with cloud computing a lot of day-to-day applications can be taken off the computer and online. This could even reduce the need to have powerful PCs. I know some businesses do this but when will it be common place for home users (if ever)

If this isn't the future of OSs, what is? Are they going to get bigger and more feature rich or smaller and more focused? You have to concede OSs could integrate more with the internet.

I don't know what the future holds for the OS but it will always be around.

I'm sure you could all ready run a relatively efficient small office via web based applications, time keeping, office suite's email etc

I haven't bought hardware in years and my current OS's install after every application I need is probably under 300mb

software company's game companies hardware companies are always going to keep pushing to keep getting people spending money on crap they don't need

just look at the majority of home users now with their flashy dual core cpu's and what do they use them for? booking a flight twice a year...

cance

hi silvine,

your description sounds awefully like currently implemented dumb terminal/terminal server solutions.

you need to differentiate what you mean here, do you mean for personal computing or for business computing?

if you mean business, its already here. citrix are now doing virtual desktops off lightweight operating systems. its called xen desktop and its very exciting for large organisations. I highly recommend you to watch this video as its close to ground breaking stuff. Demo

as it has been pointed out here, i dont see the need for cloud computing any time soon for joe soap end user...

conceited

ntlbell wrote: »

what's going to run on the pc that you open the browser on?

you just turn the pc on and a browser loads?

lol

no matter what there will be a need for a client os be it some suped up version of windows CE or trimmed down NetBSD

Thats incorrect.
You can turn on your computer and have a browser straight away without an "operating system"in the traditional sense.

ntlbell

conceited wrote: »

Thats incorrect.
You can turn on your computer and have a browser straight away without an "operating system"in the traditional sense.

ok,

I'll ignore the phrase traditional and ask what's going to run the browser?

cance

ntlbell wrote: »

ok,

I'll ignore the phrase traditional and ask what's going to run the browser?

a thin client os, a cut down operating system with minimal components such as ICA, RDP and iexplorer (if its windows).

ntlbell

cance wrote: »

thin client os, a cut down operating system with minimal components such as ICA, RDP and iexplorer (if its windows).

It's still an OS?

I said "trimmed down" and he said I was incorrect, then you call it "cut down" ?

an OS will have to boot in order to get to thre browser no matter what.

from what i have seen the majority of windows thin clients just use windows ce, which is also what i stated in the post

cance

i misunderstood your question, apologies.

I dont feel like arguing the semantics of what makes an operating system :pac:

ntlbell

cance wrote: »

i misunderstood your question, apologies.

I dont feel like arguing the semantics of what makes an operating system :pac:

heh, nor do I I was genuiney interested in how he's going to get the browser without an OS I think it would be a neat trick

Overheal

what youre talking about essentially is making your PC a terminal that doesnt have or require a hard drisk but gets all of its information from a mainframe/server. We already went that way in the 60s 70s and 80s but because of the way computers have been advancing and data transfer over distances has not, this isnt very feasible yet. So yes, it really is a case of getting faster connection speeds between machines.

I cant remember the exact figures in Japan but their connection speed is insane - im sure they'll be the first proving ground for any major Cloud-style-OS in the near future.

conceited

http://forum.osdev.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16142
This is also interesting and makes things alot easier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Firmware_Interface

ntlbell

conceited wrote: »

http://forum.osdev.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16142
This is also interesting and makes things alot easier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Firmware_Interface

"We will have a full tcp/ip stack, along with drivers for ethernet cards, it will also have a built in dhcp client, as well as a StartUp.txt file, so you can keep any settings, for that PC.

The first thing it will do is boot and load a "hello world!" html page off the net."

Sounds very much like an operating system to me....

EFI is just a fancy BIOS which is used normally to boot...wait for it..an OS

you can all ready have alot more from booting off a floppy with the likes of PicoBSD

silvine

Yeah I am talking about a consumer verion of Citrix Xen desktop.