Why The World Needs a New OS... And a New Internet
The world needs a new OS. It doesn't have to be as commercialized as Windows, iOS or Android. It doesn't have to be as glamorous as Mac OS. And it doesn't have to be as big as Unix. The new OS just has to exist in order to revolutionize the future of computing in a way far beyond how we know it today.
Unix, MS DOS, Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Symbian, iOS, Android, WebOS... these are all OSes. Computers and devices are started through them. They provide the platform and the framework on which applications and services may run. OSes act as the intermediary between the software and the hardware. Most important, they enable the hardware so that it could be used by people in a meaningful way.
Modern OSes are sold in such a way that they would immediately appeal to as many users possible. An OS package, therefore, may include many applications out-of-the-box with the assumption that most of the targeted customers are expecting them to be built-in. These built-in applications are really just that: applications. They are technically not part of the OS.
The OS, at its core, should be something that could simply start the computer or device, after which it would be ready for use. If the OS is optimized in such a way that it would focus on establishing a connection to the Internet via network-centric kernel, then OSes don't have to grow as big as they are today. After booting the computer or device, and therefore connecting it to the Internet, the "rest of the OS" including its built-in applications and services may be hosted on-line... which, from here onwards, we will now call the "cloud OS".
Getting on-line is not only what's needed. The on-line network itself should be as efficient and as effective as much as possible. Internet2 has the technology necessary, but it's not commercially available. With the way we have the Internet now, any new cloud OS released this early might actually just get added to the statistics of technologies that are released far, far ahead of their time. If Internet2 could be rolled-out, then the cloud OS can become much, much more feasible and viable.
Partly, we can say that Google's Chrome OS is somewhere towards the right direction -- if its not vaporware. A great idea from Microsoft R&D regard the web browser as the cloud OS. Each doesn't entirely cut it on their own, but there's something about these ideas and technologies that can be put together to build the cloud OS.
It's time for the OS to get thinner, partially departing from computers and getting in to the cloud. However, the future of personal computing needs a new infrastructure as well. All these should be put in place at the same time in order for the cloud OS vision to become a successful reality.
Unix, MS DOS, Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Symbian, iOS, Android, WebOS... these are all OSes. Computers and devices are started through them. They provide the platform and the framework on which applications and services may run. OSes act as the intermediary between the software and the hardware. Most important, they enable the hardware so that it could be used by people in a meaningful way.
Modern OSes are sold in such a way that they would immediately appeal to as many users possible. An OS package, therefore, may include many applications out-of-the-box with the assumption that most of the targeted customers are expecting them to be built-in. These built-in applications are really just that: applications. They are technically not part of the OS.
The OS, at its core, should be something that could simply start the computer or device, after which it would be ready for use. If the OS is optimized in such a way that it would focus on establishing a connection to the Internet via network-centric kernel, then OSes don't have to grow as big as they are today. After booting the computer or device, and therefore connecting it to the Internet, the "rest of the OS" including its built-in applications and services may be hosted on-line... which, from here onwards, we will now call the "cloud OS".
Getting on-line is not only what's needed. The on-line network itself should be as efficient and as effective as much as possible. Internet2 has the technology necessary, but it's not commercially available. With the way we have the Internet now, any new cloud OS released this early might actually just get added to the statistics of technologies that are released far, far ahead of their time. If Internet2 could be rolled-out, then the cloud OS can become much, much more feasible and viable.
Partly, we can say that Google's Chrome OS is somewhere towards the right direction -- if its not vaporware. A great idea from Microsoft R&D regard the web browser as the cloud OS. Each doesn't entirely cut it on their own, but there's something about these ideas and technologies that can be put together to build the cloud OS.
It's time for the OS to get thinner, partially departing from computers and getting in to the cloud. However, the future of personal computing needs a new infrastructure as well. All these should be put in place at the same time in order for the cloud OS vision to become a successful reality.
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