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Web OS, ajaxWindows Launched
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Mon Sep 10, 2007 03:02 PM
from the then-your-internet-connection-dies dept.
from the then-your-internet-connection-dies dept.
BigRedFed writes "Michael Robertson, of mp3.com fame, Linspire.com fame (or infamy depending on your view point) and more recently, ajax13.com has released another interesting piece of web software. ajaxWindows they are calling it and it's an almost full fledged web based OS that you can use to transport around your documents and mp3 collection to any device with an internet connection and a full web-browser."
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Web OS, ajaxWindows Launched
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Re:Transport my docs and mp3? (Score:5, Funny)
Gates: You got your Javascript in my Windows!
Web2.0: You got your Windows in my Javascript!
Your USB stick is easier to use and faster. But behold! My block of swiss cheese has a stronger security model!
That went down fast (Score:5, Funny)
You DOSsed My OS! (Score:5, Funny)
(Last Journal: Friday November 09, @12:32PM)
I'M IN UR OS, STEALIN' UR WEBZ!
Re:As Scotty once said ... (Score:5, Funny)
Scalable? (Score:4, Funny)
(http://www.shawngarringer.com/)
Blue Screen of Death (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Blue Screen of Death (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://idunno.org/)
Trademark anyone? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Trademark anyone? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Lawyers (Score:4, Insightful)
They'll pull out the checkbook and pay him off again, or ignore it and hope it goes away on its own. The last thing they want is for this to go to court again.
Re:...and mp3 collection (Score:5, Funny)
(Last Journal: Tuesday September 25, @06:21PM)
Operating System (Score:5, Interesting)
(http://ettlz.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Sunday February 12 2006, @06:53PM)
Re:Operating System (Score:5, Informative)
(http://picknit.com/ | Last Journal: Saturday July 29 2006, @03:58PM)
It's really an Ajax-based GUI API [wikipedia.org]. Referring to it as an "operating system" is dumb, but consistent with the way most people deal with OSs. When you hear people moan about the demise of Amiga or NextStep or Be, they almost always talk about some cool GUI feature or application, not about the software or hardware platforms the GUI is built on. And yet it's the software and hardware platforms that ultimately distinguishes one system from another. A GUI can be implemented anywhere.
But people talk about what they know, and what most people know is the GUI. So to most people, the GUI is the OS.
Reboot the internet plz (Score:5, Funny)
Thanks in advance!
Web Desktop, Not OS (Score:5, Insightful)
Web OS (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.xwin.net/)
Slashdotted. (Score:4, Interesting)
"Thank you for visiting ajaxwindows.com
ajaxWindows and the Ajax13 web site are temporarily down for planned
maintenance. We expect to be back up by 2:30pm, PDT on 9/10/07
Thanks for your interest, please visit our site again, soon."
YAWOS (Score:4, Funny)
(http://inglorion.net/ | Last Journal: Thursday October 06 2005, @07:17AM)
Well, maybe... (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://www.digitaltippingpoint.com/ | Last Journal: Tuesday October 09, @09:25PM)
Oh, ya think?
Damn, I love this guy. Who else would do something like this? Bear in mind, this is the guy whom Microsoft sued for using the name Lindows, and ends up getting paid $20 million [webpronews.com]. Oh, and the RIAA? While others end up paying the record labels thousands for petty downloading, Michael Robertson founds MP3.com, commercializes file sharing, and gets paid hundreds of millions [webpronews.com] and then goes on to take that money to start Lindows, which, of course, lays the foundation for another pay day. And all of it using open source software.
So when Michael Robertson says that he is ready, I interpret this to mean that he is getting ready for another pay day at Microsoft's expense. LOL, party at Michael's house!
Re:Well, maybe... (Score:4, Informative)
(Last Journal: Saturday October 20, @06:40PM)
I am currently using Ubuntu 7.04. But if you askme what is the reason why I am not using Linspire, the answer is because I just got to the Linspire page *after* Installing Ubuntu in my PC. But, for my non-freedom-advocacy-crazy (similarly to almost all the PC end users) needs, Linspire seems really appealing.
isBroke() (Score:3, Funny)
Practical? (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://www.hormel.com/)
Awesome! (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://www.mihalis.net/)
I'm sitting at a Sun Ultra 40 running Windows XP 64-bit edition. 4 CPU cores. 8GB RAM. NVIDIA QuadroFX 3450 graphics. I'm on a gigabit connection to a major internet link (major financial news and data company). Even so, ajaxWindows recreates that, sticky, gummy, nasty feeling of running X-Windows when the machine isn't really powerful enough and dragging solid windows around is still a reckless waste of horsepower.
The early 90s called, they want their SPARCstation 5s back.
Re:Awesome! (Score:5, Funny)
They can't have it - I'm using it as a printserver!
Back up, so... critique. (Score:5, Informative)
The server running slowly showed up some serious cracks in their design. First off, they're calling this AJAX? It _pauses_ while downloading stuff. Some core code is _not_ asynchronous.
There are a number of problems with the user interface. At one point I was prompted with a browser window about trusting the site without any comment that this would happen. When I said I didn't trust it, I ended up with a box on the screen that obscured other windows, even when they were supposedly in front of it in z-order. Assuming the content would have been implemented with Java, I don't see how this is ever going to be different, even if I had decided to trust it (Java applet components cannot have HTML-rendered components in front of them; basic browser limitation).
When I told it to add a new application, it crashed. No components worked.
Many elements of the user interface are blatant ripoffs of other people's designs. The add applications dialog uses an almost identical layout and icon set to Microsoft's similar control panel application in Windows. The icon for their "synchronize" application is a direct rip-off of Palm's HotSync icon.
And finally, when I closed the desktop window, it crashed Firefox. I couldn't switch tabs, and couldn't set the focus to any controls. I had to kill it and restart to post this message.
Ajax Windows (Score:3, Funny)
(http://mugshot.org/person?who=l0F1ZQHP644hJf)
The web is a platform? (Score:3, Informative)
(http://bmitch.net/)
Sorry, couldn't help it.
silly (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://booktextmark.mozdev.org/)
So I guessed that 'Yes' meant that I want to 'continue' loging out.
Anyway, for me in FF 1.5 the right click on the 'desktop' showed to menues at the same time: on the bottom there was this 'os' context menu and on the top there was FF context menu and I could only chose items in the FF context menu.
The windows are slow. The widgets did not execute (some error.) The 'console' didn't open (maybe for IE it will, I don't know.) What is the point of all of this?
Beware (Score:4, Informative)
[snip]
Second, we collect personal and personally identifiable information such as your name, email address, physical address, telephone number, credit card number and information concerning software downloaded, products and content purchased, accessed and/or downloaded through our products and services.
[/snip]
[snip]
Choice/Opt-Out Back to top
We do not disclose an individual customer's personally identifiable information to third parties for third-party direct marketing purposes if we have received and processed a request from that customer not to have his or her personal information shared for this purpose. You may submit this type of opt-out request by sending an email to: information@Ajax13.com with the words "Opt Out" in the subject line, or to the following mailing address: Customer Service, Ajax13, Inc., 5960 Cornerstone Court West, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92121. In addition, we also allow you to decide whether you want to receive further marketing information from us. If you do not want Ajax13 to send to you announcements or special offers by email, please email us in the same manner as described above with the word "Remove" in the subject line. Please allow up to two weeks for your request to be processed.
[/snip]
Looks like they can sell your info to spammers unless you opt-out. If you wan't to try them out, do not give them your "good" email address.
YAY! (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.swiftlead.com/)
No thanks.
Well... (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://drblast.blogspot.com/)
The problem with web desktops is that these guys aren't asking the question, "What problem do people have that we can solve using Javascript?" They're asking, "How cool would it be if we could make a desktop on the web?!" It's a solution looking for a problem.
This sort of thing could be REALLY useful, but not by emulating desktops. I'm never in the position where I say, "Hey, I wish I could click on desktop icons remotely." Emulating vi [sourceforge.net] or emacs in Javascript, however, kicks ass, because I *always* want vi keybindings in browser text areas, and making quick changes to web sites with a decent editor in Javascript would mean I could skip the "upload the changes via ftp" step that cheap web hosts make you go through.
I also don't know why the people who write these things can't implement a "window" with a border properly so that the border doesn't lag horribly behind the window content when you drag it. Use a div, and make it draggable. Put the content inside. Then make your empty window div a Javascript prototype so that Javascript applications can subclass it. Don't worry about shiny gradients until I can drag a window without it falling apart.
Re:And I thought Web 2.0 was a bunch of hype (Score:5, Insightful)
That's funny, I have no trouble at all accessing your documents...
Money=shit? (Score:3, Informative)
(http://www.asmor.com/)
Didn't Microsoft BUY the Lindows trademark, for whatever reason?
Man, that wily Gates! He sure knows how to piss someone off by throwing money at them!
Re:Response from Redmond? (Score:5, Funny)
(http://bfelger.net/)
If "shit" = $20 million, I'd like some shit, too.