The Future of the Operating System – Cloud Computing?
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Datalore brought up an excellent point during a conversation with Wirelesspacket and myself recently. The future of the Operating System most definitely IS in Cloud computing.
Cloud computing is a popular phrase that is shorthand for applications that were developed to be rich Internet applications that run on the Internet (or “cloud”). What this means, is that software that is normally installed on a personal computer is designed to be accessible via the Internet. These “cloud applications” then use massive data centers or servers in order to host them and allow people to utilize them fully. This is the way of the future for programs as we now know them. Installing and updating software on a computer will become a thing of the past. For instance, a browser will become less of a “program”, and more a feature of the operating system known as the Web itself.
XIOS is one of the bigger steps towards this goal. The one big difference between XIOS solution and existing “OS-in-a-browser” projects is that it can also run in offline mode. XIOS will keep a user’s data intact and then sync all changes with the virtual hard drive residing on a back-end server the next time a connection is regained. Company CEO Daniel Arthursson says:
It is important here to note that since XIOS supports multiple virtual hard drives, including third party hard drives, enterprise and personal ones, the data may not only be stored in Xcerion’s data centers, but also on your own home server or corporate network. This is something that many services on the Internet cannot provide today. This also extends the reliability of XIOS.” Of course, XIOS is not a full operating system, as the term is traditionally defined. It requires a host OS to boot up and launch a web browser before it can start operating. A more accurate phrase is perhaps “Cloud OS” because running it requires access to the “cloud,” that is, a network of services and connections that exist on the Internet.
Asus has released a new motherboard which features soon-to-be-announced technology by Device VM. SplashTop is a Linux desktop environment that is embedded right onto this motherboard. Within seconds of turning it on, you can boot into this Linux environment that currently features a Mozilla-based web browser and Skype.
There are, of course, things that will have to happen before this “cloud computing” becomes a reality in our every day lives. Internet connections to everyone will have to be more stable, faster… and just better. Think Fiber Optics folks. There will likely also be a lot of politics involved in this. Software makers aren’t going to like their hard work usurped and thrown by the wayside. Smaller Internet companies won’t be able to keep up with the Fiber Optic demand. This isn’t something that is going to happen overnight, by any stretch of the imagination. However, it WILL happen… whether in five years, ten or even twenty.
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