The Web OS. Sounds like a nice idea, right? Sure, everything out in the cloud, secured with industrial-strength redundancy. Why not? Sign me up. But is it really any good when applied in the present day in real-world scenarios? Not so much. Why? All technological ducks are not neatly aligned in that proverbial row. Though some of the examples of these idealistic systems we see now - which Samuel Dean of Web Worker Daily offers a good comprehensive look at - are visually quite appealing, they can’t quite stand as primary computing solutions for everyday PC users.
I’ll offer up my own prediction here that cloud-based operating systems will advance and grow to become popular, mainstream options for computer users in less than a decade’s time. Yes, 10 years from now, I imagine a portion of both the corporate and consumer populace will be logging on straight to the World Wide Web, without need for Windows Vista or Windows 7 or whathaveyou. If wireless broadband is to become a far-reaching utility and relatively inexpensive commodity - which I think it very well might, if telecoms really know what’s good for them - then there really will be no need for much of the public to continue to straddle the offline-online divide. The paradigm will shift. It is already doing so to large degree.
But Web OSes themselves will be no more than novelties, for several more years. Until we can recognize them as “standard”, anyway That isn’t to say current efforts to build these systems are done in vain. Far from it. They provide the bedrock for what we can expect 5+ years from now. They show what is possible, if only wired and wireless connections can be viewed as ubiquitous.
So, you know, it’ll be a while longer before Windows Online is something that is “common.” The same goes with Apple’s equivalent. But it’s not so far away that it’s not worth contemplating. At least that’s what I gather when looking at current market options. That, also, is when I assume “Web 3.0” will embed itself into the popular lexicon.