Is This the Holy Grail of Online Computing?

They say the next logical step in the evolution of operating systems (if there ever is such a process) is bringing it online. There have been various steps taken toward this end, such as companies coming out with online versions of common Desktop tools, such as word processors, spreadsheets and notepad applications.

ajaxWindows does more, by actually offering a desktop-like interface on your Web browser, consolidating most of today’s popular Web-based apps. It even a media player one can use online!

ajaxwindows (image source)

Ron Miller says the people behind this nifty site might actually get to market their “online OS” soon.

There’s a lot to like there, but conceptually it’s mind-boggling because if you can put the whole OS on the internet, it changes the whole way we interact with and use our computers. The likes of Microsoft (and its high prices) become, dare I say, irrelevant. Of course, there is the entire matter of a business model and it’s not clear what that is. According to the About page on the ajax13 web site they are in fact a software development company, which would suggest they hope to make money from this venture. How they do that isn’t completely clear to me.

Of course in this logical progression of things (i.e., then vs. now being desktop-based vs. online-based computing), the new battlefront would be on the browser arena. Let’s not talk thin clients for now, since I think that’s too drastic.

I don’t see Internet-based OSes as being too mainstream too soon, especially given bandwidth considerations (particularly in my country), and given the marketing and lobbying power of the software giants (this means you, Microsoft). However, apps like ajaxWindows look like small steps in the right direction.