How do you fancy logging into any computer and finding all your web applications and files there waiting for you? A bit like the office network really, except we're talking here about macs, pcs and linux machines anywhere in the world.
Well, if Dr. Zvi Schreiber has his way, it's going to happen. Right now his Global hosted operating system (G.ho.st) can deliver the goods. It's early days, the program (shown at Innovate!Europe) is still what you'd call alpha. The first public beta is expected in July.
But G.ho.st works, especially if you use a reasonably snappy computer and have, it almost goes without saying, a broadband connection. It does need to do a lot of rendering work using Flash to simulate the desktop.
Whether you'd agree that G.ho.st is "the world's only true web OS" is open to question. It might be the world's first web-based virtual computer. But whether you'd consider it an operating system is another matter. It probably depends how techie you are. You access G.ho.st from your browser and it hosts multiple web services and applications for you.
You can even upload files from your computer to a free 3GB of storage which you can organise into the usual folder structure. It's a great place to store those last minute items that you might just need when travelling.
G.ho.st feels fairly 'normal' in use. You can play around with colours and fonts and generally tweak the desktop to your liking.
If you want to play, visit http://G.ho.st but be prepared for the odd freeze or crash. It goes with the territory. By July, it should be more solid.
G.ho.st is surely a great concept. I don't know much about the technical aspect of G.ho.st but its functionality excites me.. I saw an interview of its creator, Zvi Schreiber. You can read about the man himself and his aims to ultimately move the whole computer onto the web at Los Creador - http://www.loscreador.com/2007/05/29/interview-with-the-ghost-zvi-schreiber
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