Many people online have been yelling for a Web Based OS. I claim that one already exists. There exists the tools for an underlying OS. There has yet to be a platform to bring all of the already excellent web services together. Some of the potential services that I’m thinking about are specialty sites like gmail, plaxo, delicious, … .
It is obvious how the mail app would work, but what are the advantages of having email in the OS? Can control mailto; When a link is clicked in any onther app then the WebOS can handle it.
Maybe the WebOS could be a unified platform that makes everything pretty launching the web services in iframes?
Or the WebOS could be something else. It could just be a platform that allows the separate web programs to plug-in and communicate.
What would make a WebOS stand out from other platforms is the ease of letting other programs to connect and communicate. There are a few essential technologies that need to line up for this to work.
- File Management
- Open API
- Program Management
- Platform Upgrading
File Management
What makes a WebOS so desirable in File Management is its ability to have files anywhere, The ability to have a revision history of files, Automatic Backups, and search-ability with file indexing.
A WebOS would start with just a basic filesystem. Everything on the web is data-based, but a webapp is not usefull unless the data stored can be interacted with.
Web API
This is essential to the success of a WebOS. If the user is restricted to Google services, then it will fail. But it’s more than allowing the creation of gadgets/widgets. The third party apps should have full screen space as well as much control as other systems.
If on web app (plaxo) created some files or data points on the user’s site. Then another app that the user has should be able to access the data points. Once given permission the second app could call something like:
data.plaxo.contacts —–> XML
This will return xml to the second app and it will be able to access the contacts.
The permissions for access to the data would be similar to unix, there would be a group/user/guest access. When an app tries to access a file the first time the user will have to grant it access.
Platform Version
This is one advantage of having an online OS. Version updates are automatic. However, some may see this as a disadvantage. For them they can set an option that allows them to keep their current version. The options could be as follows.
- automatic update
- notify me
- do not update
Program Management
Program management is a little more tricky. The model for most OS like platforms today is to have the program code base hosted on the program’s own server. Facebook has recently taken the steps to provide developers with space.
If the OS is going to regulate the upgrade of each program then, the program should be hosted on the OS’s server.
The mechinism for installing a program will be as follows.
- The user finds the program, clicks the program’s link.
- The link will link to a codebase witch, after the user approves, will install on the OS.
The url may look something like this. http://webos.com/install?u=http://osprog.com/j.webp
Today there are many web services available but there has not been a gathering place for all of these services. The WebOS’s that exist do not allow for full functionality, and this is their downfall. A WebOS must allow for total control over files, user customization, and program interaction.
