After having already written two posts about web operating systems ([1][2][3]), I found two articles at franticindustries.com, which review 10 web os each:
Posts Tagged 'Desktop'
Web Operating Systems reviewed
Published July 8, 2007 Technology Leave a CommentTags: Desktop, OS, web 2.0
Web 2.0 and other geeky stuff – Roundup
Published June 10, 2007 Technology 1 CommentTags: Desktop, Google, OS, remote access, web 2.0
In the last two weeks, I stumbled upon some interesting web 2.0 and other geeky stuff. Here is a quick roundup. Give them a try!
LogMeIn lets you access your Windows PC from anywhere in the world. All you need is a computer connected to the Internet. You see your Target PC’s full desktop and control everything on it—applications, network files, email, printing—without the hassle of further downloads or installations. You can even share files that are too large for email. There’s no need to lug around a laptop, because LogMeIn lets you access your PC from an internet cafe, an airport, or a hotel business center. You can even print documents you’ve accessed remotely.
Create, Aggregate and Collaborate on multiple types of content online.
EyeOS
Some time ago, I had a look at YouOS and DesktopOne. Whereas DesktopTwo was more advanced, you need to have Adobe’s Flash plugin installed.
EyeOS is a good combination of both: No Flash needed and even a whole bunch of great features. The best: it is open source software and can be installed on any server you like.
Unfortunately it does not seem to have any session handling. So if you close your browser on computer A and switch to computer B, all applications have been terminated.
In first place, welcome to the eyeOS project. You’re about to discover a new work and organization method: A completely free (Open Source) Web Operating System running from your browser, where anybody can collaborate and expand it. If you want to see how is eyeOS, you can visit the screenshots section, or if you prefer it, watch the video from this page.
Google Gears (BETA) is an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide offline functionality using the following JavaScript APIs:
Store and serve application resources locally Store data locally in a fully-searchable relational database Run asynchronous Javascript to improve application responsiveness
This is a presentation of Google Gears from the Google Developer Day in London some days ago:
BTW…the Google Developer Day took place globally in 10 different locations around the world. A lot more sessions can be found on the Google Developer Day Youtube Channel.
UltraMon
Found via lifehacker.com:
UltraMon is a utility for multi-monitor systems, designed to increase productivity and unlock the full potential of multiple monitors.
efficiently move windows and maximize windows across the desktop manage more applications with the Smart Taskbar control application positioning with UltraMon Shortcuts multi-monitor support for desktop wallpapers and screen savers mirror your main monitor to secondary monitors for a presentation
What I like most is the SmartTaskbar feature:
Each taskbar only shows applications from the monitor it is on, so you won’t have to search for an application after activating it. If you move an application to a different monitor, its taskbar button will be moved to the corresponding taskbar
Synergy2
Published June 10, 2007 Technology Leave a CommentTags: Desktop, Linux, Mac, remote, windows
Two years ago, I tried Synergy2 on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It’s intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s).
Redirecting the mouse and keyboard is as simple as moving the mouse off the edge of your screen. Synergy also merges the clipboards of all the systems into one, allowing cut-and-paste between systems. Furthermore, it synchronizes screen savers so they all start and stop together and, if screen locking is enabled, only one screen requires a password to unlock them all. Learn more about how it works.
At that time, I had to use the console on Mac OS X and Linux to start/stop Synergy2. Configuration was done by editing text files. A GUI was only available for the Windows version, so that at least on Mac OS X and Linux the usability could have been better.
Yesterday, I read Adam Pash’ Hack Attack: Control multiple computers with a single keyboard and mouse on lifehacker.com. He mentions, that for Mac OS X a GUI for Synergy2, called SynergyKM, is available. So, I gave it another try. This time, the setup was very smooth. Just a few clicks on Mac and Notebook and the setup was complete.
What I like most is, that my TFT display has an analog as well as a DVI connector. So, the Mac is connected using DVI, whereas the notebook is attached to the display via an analog cable. Now I can switch between both using a button on the display. Together with Synergy2, it is a really cheap KVM switch.
I found a nice little Mac app today. It is called GeekTool.
GeekTool is a PrefPane (System Preferences module) for Panther or Tiger to show system logs, unix commands output, or images (i.e. from the internet) on your desktop (or even in front of all windows). Use File mode to monitor MacOS X activity with /var/tmp/console.log or /var/log/system.log, or Shell mode to launch custom scripts or commands like “df” to check space left on filesystems, “uptime” to monitor load of your machine… FInally, Image mode helps you monitor bandwith usage, CPU loads, memory availability of your server, via tools like MRTG or RRD.
This screenshot shows the lower left part of my screen with hourly updated information about thebartels.
You can find more screenshots here.
DesktopTwo – another operating system in a web browser
Published November 16, 2006 Technology 1 CommentTags: Desktop, OS, web 2.0
Some weeks ago I wrote about YouOS, an operating system which is running in a web browser. Today I found an even more advanced project: DesktopTwo
In contrary to YouOS, DesktopTwo requires Adobe Flash beside a web browser. But as the Flash-plugin is installed on almost every computer, it is not a big restriction. Compared to YouOS DesktopTwo has many more features and functionalities. The applications are more advanced (for example mail client, rss reader, mp3 player(!)) and you even get your own email address and 1GB space on their server for storing mails, mp3s and any other files you would like to store.
Really amazing is, that Sapotek, the company behind DeskopTwo, seems to have implemented some kind of RDP protocol because you are able to use Adobae Acrobat Reader and the Open Office Suite.
So it is definitely worth to try out!
Mac Mini on Speed (Mac Mini Core 2 Duo (Merom) Upgrade)
Published November 8, 2006 Technology 3 CommentsTags: CPU, Desktop, Howtos, Mac, Mac-Mini, Upgrade
On Monday I successfully upgraded the CPU of my Mac Mini. The old Intel Core Solo 1,5 Ghz had to give way for a new Intel Core 2 Duo 2,0 Ghz (T7200, code name “Merom”). Additionally I replaced the two 512 MB RAM modules with two modules of 1024 MB each.
1. The Mac Mini still works stable! 
2. The speedup is really huge. I did not do many exact benchmarks but most applications are starting much faster than before (espcially iPhoto with 8000 photos and Rosetta applications like MS Office or Acrobat 7) and feel more responsive.
3. The CPU temperature during normal usage (running apps: AdiumX, Skype, Mail, NetNewsWire, iTunes, EyeTV) ranges from 55 to 67 degrees celsius. At maximum load the temperature went up to 97 degrees for a short time (most of the time it was at 90 to 92 when running SETI@home). Although this is within the limit of critical temperature (which is at 125 degrees celsius for the Core 2 Duo), it is unfortunately not very low. I did not measure the temperature of the Core Solo 1,5 Ghz before the upgrade, but can remember that I ran CoreDuoTemp some weeks ago during normal system usage and got about 60 degrees celsius.
4. Some images of the upgrade can be found here.
Benchmarks:
Here are some benchmark values of the Mac Mini with the old CPU (first value) and the new one (second value). The third value shows the speedup-factor.
Xbench values
CPU Test: 56.20 -> 104.55 => 1,86
Thread Test: 82.82 -> 199.50 => 2,40
Memory Test: 105.20 -> 117.77 => 1,12
Most of the other Xbench tests showed a speedup similar to the memory test.
Cinebench 9.5
Rendering (Single CPU): 216 -> 332 => 1,54
Rendering (Multiple CPU): n/a -> 619
Multiprocessor Speedup of Core 2 Duo: 1.87
Shading (CINEMA 4D): 265 – 405 => 1,53
Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting): 850 -> 1440 => 1,69
Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 869 -> 1574 => 1,81
OpenGL Speedup: 3.28 -> 3.88 => 1,19
Result: SPEEEEEED 
Operating System in Web Browser
Published July 24, 2006 Other 2 CommentsTags: Desktop, Geek-Stuff, OS
Today, i tried out YouOS. It is some kind of an operating system running in your browser. You have (almost) all the main apps like a web browser, chat client, notes, shell and so on. There are currently about 250 official applications available, which can be installed in your own environment. It is even possible to code your own application. (Most of the 250 apps are user contributions.)
An interesting feature is, that your are automatically logged in to a chat application after logon, with which you are able to chat with other users currently running YouOS.
It works really great, but was unfortunately a little bit slow at the time i tried it. One might ask “Why would I ever need such a thing?”.
I think it could be pretty useful, if you are switching computers very often during the day. (desktop and laptop at home, workstation at the office, computers in internet cafés, etc) Most of the time I am running clients for mail, news and instant messaging all the time. With such an Browser-OS it would be possible to have all those applications running remotely and you are able to login from everywhere and use them almost like they are running locally.
Unfortunately this is currently not possible with YouOS, because you cannot logout without terminating all running applications. Hopefully this feature will be integrated eventually.
Another (wicked? ) idea would be to extend xorg’s xserver with an browser-capable client. If this would be possible, one could use a complete Linux system (for example) in a webbrowser. I would like (and use) that.
BTW…here is a screenshot of YouOS with some applications running:
