Craythur is a completely new WebOS that puts big emphasis on looks, and it does that part really well, with a well chosen desktop background and transparent window borders similar to those Vista’s Aero. However, the apps themselves are more alpha than beta. For one thing, they’re mostly not translated from Spanish. They work, but nothing more than that; none of them can hold their own against any decent comparative application, web-based or otherwise. Since this is obviously an application at its very early stages, let’s just leave it at good-looking and come back in a few months to see the progress.
2. Desktoptwo
http://.56516.bloggerspaces.com
If there’s such things as “serious WebOS players”, Desktoptwo is one of them. It’s a Flash based fully featured WebOS which requires registration to try, immediately giving you your own mini-site and your own Desktoptwo email address to use. Desktoptwo is Flash-based, and while I’m not thrilled about Flash Web 2.0 applications, most of the OSes from this list work in Flash, and I must admit that some do it pretty well. Desktoptwo’s apps can be slow, and a certain amount of bugs are present (when i clicked on Message Board preferences, everything got garbled up), but not so much to ruin your experience with the service. One more thing: Desktoptwo opens in a popup, which is sure to annoy some users.
3. EyeOS
Taking a bit of a different approach than other sites in this bunch, EyeOS offers you to download the EyeOS server files and install them on your on web server to use as you please. You can also try out a demo which is hosted on the free public server eyeos.info, which also provides free accounts of eyeOS to everyone who wants to use it without owning a private server. The public server is funded through donations, and there’s still quite a way to go, so if you like EyeOS, go ahead and help them.
4. Glide
This text was actually postponed because Glide registration was closed until 19th of December, and I wanted to squeeze it into this list. And lo and behold; they’ve gotten real serious after the relaunch. So serious that besides free registration, they offer things like family standard and family premium plans (for the last one the fee is $149.95 yearly). For registration. they also require verification via an SMS message. This got me interested, as it is the only WebOS around that thinks of itself highly enough to actually start charging for the service.
And, to some extent, Glide delivers. It’s Flash-based, and it’s not really trying to mimic Windows or any similar desktop environment, choosing a unique GUI of its own instead. It lets you upload and store up to 1 GB of files, read RSS feeds, manage bookmarks, appointments, chat, create documents, view picturess. It’s also designed pretty well - at least at first sight. However, it’s somewhat similar to DesktopTwo in some areas, sharing a number of negative traits with it. First of all, some apps open in a popup, for which I really can’t see a good reason. Furthermore, some of the applications don’t seem to be as polished graphically as the rest of the interface. Some of the apps are just plain buggy - the Calendar simply did not work, reporting an error as soon as I clicked it.5. Goowy
Goowy is also Flash-based, but I don’t feel any of the usual negative traits that Flash can bring. It has lots of well-written and usable applications, it’s not lightning fast but it’s not too slow either, and it all works within the same window with the standard desktop-OS-like toolbar. The apps…well, the apps are great. They open in windows you can move around your webtop using a pretty precise grid, which makes organization really easy. You’ve got your standard file-uploader, mail application, RSS reader, instant messenger, bookmarks, calendar and contacts. All of these apps are very well made; for example, the RSS reading functionality is almost as good as in my online reader of choice - Netvibes. I wouldn’t exchange Netvibes for it just yet, but if weren’t able to use Netvibes anymore, Goowy would do just fine. Same goes for other applications, which makes Goowy by far the most usable WebOS in this list.6. Orca
WebOS is a pretty complex application and there’s no two ways about it. So when I see things like “Muly” as one choice for the month of birth or when the “create account” button is missing altogether, I think “sloppy”. And that’s exactly how Orca turned out to be in the end.
I will utter three little words and 70% of readers will skip to the next item in the list: no Firefox support. And they’re right: you simply cannot create an application meant primarily for tech-aware users and not have support for the tech-savvy browser of choice. But even in IE, Orca is simply an unfinished, early alpha, hey-i-can-now-invite-a-few-friends-to-test-this product. Best of luck to the developers, but at this stage Orca is not worth your time.
7. Purefect
Purefect is also at an early stage of development, but it’s at least showing some promise. It tries to mimic the Windows environment completely, down to the icons, which is in my opinion the wrong path to choose. There are just a few apps, like file explorer, memory game and calculator, and as far as settings go you can set the display preferences. It’s functional, but pretty buggy (you can access other users’ files in the file explorer), and there simply isn’t much to do. Like Craythur, it might be interesting to check it out again in a couple of months to see if there’s any progress, but for now it’s just not usable.8. SSOE
SSOE seems to be a project that’s looking far ahead. The author is the first to admit that the kernel of the OS is perhaps 10% written at this point and it gives you a choice of a relatively stable and a newer, unstable version to choose from.
And it’s all true. SSOE looks is more a technology demo than something you would even consider to use, regardless of which version you choose. But even at this early stage of development, I will feel free to give the author a pointer: those huge icons, and badly done brushed metal windows, are ugly. Noone is going to use them if they look like that. Other than that I can’t say much about SSOE because 80% of stuff I’ve tried to click on did not work. Best of luck in the future, next please.9. XinDESK
XinDESK is the only one out of the 10 WebOS apps listed here that I didn’t actually try out, because they don’t have a demo or an alpha version yet. However, browsing through the author’s blog one can find some interesting facts about the service. Here’s a couple of quotes:
“The core of Xindesk is a WebOS featuring application that opens and saves the standard office formats. Xindesk is the first web operating system that works easily, even for people without deep computer knowledge. The WebOS is an open platform, just like Windows and Mac OS. This enables anyone to develop new applications.”
“Every Xindesk application you develop can also be installed on all versions of windows.”
All in all, it doesn’t sound too shoddy, and I look forward to checking out this service again when it’s available to the public. You can check out a couple of screenshots over at XinDESK blog.
10. YouOS
Before I’ve started writing this piece, the only OS I’ve heard something about in the news was YouOS. And you can see that a fair amount of serious development went into the product, as there are quite a number of useful applications here, including a very good chat client, IM software, file browser, RSS reader and a couple of others. The applications can be moved accross the desktop, look pretty much like standard desktop apps and respond well with some minor issues (for example, the resizing of the RSS reader window did not go too smoothly). You can browse through your open applications using a toolbar similar to the Windows taskbar, which also works as intended.
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11. DesktopOnDemand
DesktopOnDemand seems to be the most ambitious service on this list, which is why I was unpleasantly surprised with some very annoying login problems. Simply put, I was unable to login and it took some 10 tries to start the application at all. When it finally did start, it crashed immediately, and I had to restart.
All this is unfortunate, because DesktopOnDemand offers a lot. It is, simply put, Linux, in your web browser. Given the complexity of Linux as opposed to many other apps described here, I won’t go into details - just imagine one of those Live CD Linux distros inside a web browser window. Needless to say, the choice of applications is fantastic, and you can definitely use DOD to do real work, store data (you get 1 GB of storage), browse (anonymously) the Internet etc. The speed is not stellar but it’s bearable, and the stability and functionality is, well, pretty much the same of any light or Live CD Linux distro.
12. G.ho.st
This cryptically named offering (Ghost is short for Global Hosted Operating SysTem) is Flash-based, and it has come a long way since the first time I’ve tried it out. GUI-wise it resembles Windows, but it goes farther than just mimicking its look and feel, offering for examples, animations and fade in/out transitions. The available applications are numerous and quite standard for a WebOS: RSS reader, web browser, notes, clock, search, e-mail reader and instant messenger are some examples. G.ho.st lacks an office suite, but, as G.ho.st’s lead developer Zvi Schreiber told me, “Unlike the other “Web OSs” G.ho.st actually works with leading Web applications like Google docs and Flickr instead of being limited to our own Apps!…” “...G.ho.st actually provides a single sign-in and single file system to add value to those other apps.”
Registered users receive 3GB of free storage, and quite extensive help and support on every step. Instead of files, G.ho.st introduces objects. Here’s a quote from G.ho.st’s website explaining the concept:
13. ODesktop
Odesktop comes with the following definition: “Using Ajax and PHP, it (ODesktop) mimics window-like applications behaviour in your web browser but also is designed to run multiple web applications at a time.” Besides this, they also offer the ability to install ODesktop on your own web host.
ODekstop offers 10 GB of storage - in theory - but its nifty way of uploading files by just dragging and dropping them on a toolbar didn’t work for me every time, sometimes causing the entire demo to freeze. All this makes ODekstop one of those applications that look good, and promise a lot, but there’s a small letdown at every corner. Verdict: more polishing, more applications, then we can talk.
14. AjaxWindows
AjaxWindows tries really hard to replicate your desktop environment. Thus, when you start the service, you’ll be presented with a wizard that can synchronize your music, pictures, and documents folder, as well as wallpaper and some other details, with the AjaxWindows online experience.
Main AjaxWindows features, besides the synchronization, are secure connection, and 1GB of FREE storage for your files (plus more for MP3 files). There’s also a decent number of applications, most of which are web apps which come from the same company that built AjaxWindows - Ajax13. There’s also a number of widgets, which include RSS feeds, weather info and the like.
15. MyLGD
MyLGD is short for My Little Green Desktop, and that’s just about all the info I’ve found about the service. It’s a flash-based virtual OS environment which, surprisingly, works quite well. The applications open quite slowly, but the GUI is very fast, and takes little to no CPU time.
16. Nivio
Nivio is similar to DesktopOnDemand, only on a different platform. It’s a Windows desktop environment in your browser, and for some reason, I didn’t particularly like this idea. Having Windows running in a Java window was painfully slow, and although many users will appreciate the fact that they can readily use this without having to learn anything new, I’m not really convinced that Windows is the best way to go for a WebOS - I’d prefer something simpler and built from the grounds up for this purpose; some may, of course, disagree.
17. Schmedley
Webtop would probably be a more appropriate monicker for Schmedley than a WebOS. It’s a widget launchpad, similar to Goowy, but less ambitious. However, by not complicating things too much Schmedley manages to be what many other similar services are not: fast and useful.
18. Dekoh
Dekoh is a very different beast from the other services in this roundup, some of its aspects being the exact opposite of a WebOS. Detailed information is available at the official Dekoh Wiki, but in short, it’s a cross-OS desktop platform which enables you to share your media online. The key word is platform: with some regards, Dekoh compares better with Adobe’s Apollo than with the other WebOS-style services, as it lets you deploy Java, Ajax, or Flash apps across multiple operating systems.
19. Ironbox
Ironbox greeted me with quite an unnerving message. It apperently works well only in IE6, IE7 to some extent, and Firefox 1.5. Fortunately, I’ve tried it out with Firefox 2.0 and I didn’t bump into any problems.
20. GCOE X
GCOE X is in a very early alpha stage of development, but something tells me that it might be an interesting product in the future. It doesn’t have any other way of launching applications or creating/deleting new files than the command line utility, and the applications themselves are scarce: there’s a web browser, MP3 player, IM chat, and that’s pretty much it.
A couple more to keep an eye on in the future:
Xindesk
Xindesk was featured in the original WebOS review, and its lead developer, Mikael Bergkvist, was one of the most vocal supporters of the idea of a WebOS. Xindesk is not available as a beta yet, but I was allowed to have a quick peek into the alpha version, and I’ve also had a look at Challenger, another WebOS-type aplications that Xindesk has recently acquired, planning to merge the two services. At this point in time, there’s no point reviewing Xindesk as it will change significantly in the future after the merge, however from what I’ve seen Xindesk will definitely be a serious competitor in the WebOS space.
Exo - Currently consists out of some quite technical explanations and a couple of screenshots which admittedly look very promising. You can also see a video here.
OOS - no live demo yet, website says “soon”
Jooce - Currently in closed beta, haven’t been able to get an invite.
Xcerion - Also in closed beta. Seems to be an ambitious project, but I’ve seen nothing to confirm their ambitions yet.
Startforce - described as “Japan’s best WebOS”, promises 15 applications, has an open API.
Widgetop is by their own words, a Webtop, not a WebOS, merely bringing Apple Dashboard widgets to the web. The service is fully functional.
Go.PC - a commercial WebOS available - for some weird reason - only to residents of New Zealand and Australia. Go check the website, there’s a funny video there.
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