eyeOS 1.0 Launches
I've had a thing for WebOS products for quite some time. I first reviewed one of their number, EyeOS, in August 2006. Recent WebOS reviews I've done on Read/WriteWeb include DesktopOnDemand and Blake Ross of Firefox fame's Parakey. Also Emre Sokullu wrote a popular article on the still mythical GoogleOS, last November.
eyeOS hails from Spain and was one of the early entries into a market that, as yet, has little evidence of profitability. However eyeOS now boasts 120,518 users (compared to 53,500 in August 2006), so it is ramping up well.
To remind you again, a WebOS is basically a browser-based virtual desktop - allowing you to have a 'desktop' environment that you can access anywhere via a browser - i.e. it isn't hosted on your computer, like Windows, MacOS or Linux are. There has been controversy about the term, because many tech purists say that you can't have an Operating System in a browser - that by definition it is on the computer. Also some people can't see the point of a WebOS. Nevertheless, the term WebOS has largely stuck and there are a lot of (mostly European) startups pushing forward in their dreams of creating one.
Changes in eyeOS 1.0
Back in August, Eduardo Perez Orue of eyeOS told me that their product was used by basically three types of people - for reasons ranging from word processing between home and office, to file sharing, to game-playing. The 3 types of users are:
- People who download the code and use it in their own server.
- People who use the miniserver (a small windows-only program that installs apache, php and eyeOS in your PC, so you can run it locally).
- The users at the Public Server at http://eyeOS.info. These are people who (like me) simply want to sign up for an eyeOS account and start using the product.
Since August eyeOS has been completely rewritten and redesigned; however eyeOS is still an Open Source project, under the GPL license. Eduardo told Read/WriteWeb today that "the importance of eyeOS 1.0 isn't in its look or in its apps, but in its core." He says they "designed it as a normal operating system, running over a microkernel, which loads services (such as virtual filesystem, global security, graphics/screen shows...) and libraries (such as support for XML, ZIP, TAR, widgets for making apps...)." The statement that eyeOS is like "a normal operating system" is sure to get under the noses of the OS purists out there, but I find it admirable that eyeOS is aiming to be a real OS and hence development platform - and not just a virtual desktop for apps such as word processing (although that it is part of it).
Eduardo told R/WW that "we've created a full toolkit to develop apps on", calling it "a new way of creating internet applications" - i.e. rich web apps fully based on ajax, and with "great control over their security and management with the eyeOS core." Indeed everything, says Eduardo, is made through the eyeOS Toolkit. Developers only need to join app "widgets" together and create funcitons for them - "eyeOS will do the rest."
eyeOS in action
Here is the screen you're confronted with when you first enter eyeOS:
The top menu looks like this (below image shows state when the "Office" icon selected):
Unfortunately my test drive tonight didn't get much further, as I ran into a problem with the test environment I was using (note this was prior to go-live). I'm sure this has been resolved in the live version, which went up just minutes ago.
Conclusion
eyeOS is making great progress and it seems to offer a compelling development platform for apps builders. It may even make the WebOS doubting Thomases think again! Check out eyeOS 1.0 and let us know what you think in the comments below.
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Interface looks very similar to the Mac.
Is it possible to extend this product, or other webos'es, beyond the virtual desktop?
If I were to have a sort of 'personal central office/desktop', I guess I would be interested in accessing all my data from outside in any way I want.
For example: a central rss-reader has the advantage that it knows which articles I've read, no matter my location. But what would be better is not forcing me to use a rss-reader in the virtual desktop. But instead that I would be able to tell my local rss-reader (say, the one on my telephone) that my subscriptions and read articles are managed somewhere online.
The desktop should be only a part of the online presence, I think. Managing my data in a central place is far more important.
That looks a vast improvement on when I tried it out a few months ago. Has the word processor app been improved at all or is it still just a TinyMCE editor in a box? I'd be interested in using EyeOS if it offered a way to upload files to a server (a la box.net) and a way to download documents written in the word processor as Word documents.
I'm failing to see what EyeOS can do that Google Doc/Spreadsheets/Cal/Contacts/Mail can't do better, really.
Well, for one, it is Open Source.
Then, you can install on your own server, so NOBODY can have a look at your docs ....
Also, you can install ANY application, not the ones Google decides you need.
Good luck to EyeOS - please check out G.ho.st (pronounced ghost) the Global Hosted Operating SysTem as well - perhaps you want to review it? We are putting an emphasis on a more open OS which works with third party applications.
Zvi
eyeOS is pretty cool, and the fact that it is open source is even cooler.
However, what's the point? Network bandwidth will be ubiquitous in the next 10-15 years, and most storage will be "in the cloud" so your data WILL be everywhere. If companies would open their eyes (no pun intended) and try to see the future, they would be positioning themselves right now.
There will come a day when your cellular device, DVR, stereo, digital camera, PC, and video game console all have access to one drive - your web drive. That will be the day when people look back and say "I can't believe we used to carry around DVD's and flash cards"
Yeah, I'm probably +15 years off, but I'm 90% sure it will happen... the question is, will AmaYaGoogSoft see it coming?
I think widgets are kinda replacing the webos in terms of how to access and run webapps online.
Love it. Hands down what makes this webos better than all the rest is that it's open source. The expandability is limitless. Look at this project now, at 1.0, it's simply brilliant. Simple, very usable, and just waiting to be unleashed with a plethora of features by the open source community. No my friends, EyeOS will gain popularity. EyeOS will be around for a while. I'll be following this very closely. I'll be posting about it on my blog soon for sure.
hmm...quite impressing...
I`m waiting for GoogleOs starts. But EyeOs is very well web OS. Thanks for the post )
I expected it to be an "operating system". It's not. It's a the simulation of an OS implemented in a browser. If it's done for fun, that's ok. If it's meant to be used on a daily basis, it's a no-no for me.
We am planning to use it as the web desktop for our intranet.
EyeOS looks great. Another interesting web operating system to look at is Goowy. They have an easy to use API widget library that is an up and comer.
Webapps and widgets are starting to look pretty similar.
How similar? http://www.widgetplus.com
I have seen places that are using the eyeOS and are offering free unlimited storage for the service. The site I saw was http://www.cmyos.com. It is neat to try out and accounts are free.