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This is precisely why the desktop OS market represents a huge opportunity right now. If not an opportunity for startups then for significant innovation by the e
by mrshoe 17y ago
This is precisely why the desktop OS market represents a huge opportunity right now. If not an opportunity for startups then for significant innovation by the existing players. Our usage has changed so much that the standard patterns implemented by all popular desktop OSes don't even come close to meeting users' needs any more.
I blogged about this recently (http://shoptalkapp.com/blog/2009/10/15/the-real-web-os http://shoptalkapp.com/blog/2009/10/15/the-real-web-os), but I really hope that OS vendors are coming to the same realization. Creating an OS that is only useful for firing up a browser, which basically cripples the applications that run inside it, is pretty obviously a broken model. Yet that seems to be exactly what Google is working on with Chrome OS (admittedly, no one knows for sure what Chrome OS will look like at this point).
If I had the resources to make an OS that actually embraced the web, I would totally do it... hmm YC application time?
- axod 17y agoI'm not sure what you have in mind, and why you think a browser based OS is an broken model. Most people simply don't need an OS in the current form. They just need something light that can run a browser and handle the hardware. For me, it seems pretty likely that the OS will continue to diminish in importance to the point that some machines just bootup into a browser and don't have any other capability. The advantages for users are large - no virus issues, no resource hungry desktop apps, no issues if the computer breaks/hdd fails. I can't see why/how the OS has a long term future in desktop computing for the common man. And from a business perspective, I don't think there's much opportunity there.
- whatusername 17y agoI disagree. Unless by OS you mean OSX/ARM, Android, WM7, etc I see there being 3 computer systems people will use in the future. The small screen / communication device (Think iPhone/Android. fine for email, facebook, communication) The Big screen device. PVR/Set-top box/xbox/Apple TV. Consuming major media content/games/video The workstation. This is for content creation. Writing essays. Editing Videos. Recording Music. Photoshop. etc. Number 1 and 2 run OS's - but you don't really see them. Number 3 is the computer as we know it - but most people don't need that! I think the computer market / OS's will exist - but they will/are declining in popularity. I don't see them being taken over by webOS etc, because I don't need a computer for that - I need an iphone.