Web Worker Daily

Web workers are usually pretty savvy about mobile and on-demand applications, but have you spent much time with an on-demand operating system? There are now several, rich virtual operating systems that you can access anywhere from a browser. They can make it easy to keep a bunch of on-demand applications organized for anytime use, plus you don’t have to worry about replacing your drivers or cleaning your registry. I’ll discuss two of the better examples to try here.

ajaxWindows is my favorite virtual operating system, based on a mash-up of Javascript, XML and AJAX. You can register and sign into it in less than a minute and the desktop looks exactly like a Windows desktop.

One of the best things about ajaxWindows is that writing (GoogleDocs), image and other commonly used applications are right in front of you on the virtual desktop at all times, as is an address book. When you first sign-in, you walk through a setup dialog box which asks you what your webmail application is, etc.

EyeOS is an interesting open source web-based operating system, and it won a Web Technology Revelation award from Yahoo last year. It has a nice calendar application, and you can create documents compatible with Microsoft Office and OpenOffice. When I recently checked back into this virtual OS after trying it last year, it had been through a lot of improvements. If you’re a long-time Windows user, you’ll find the interface on ajaxWindows more familiar, but these tools are free—try both.

You may be wondering how you store files with a virtual operating system. You get free storage with these, and 1GB is the norm, but keep in mind that you can save your files locally, or, if you’re not on your own system, just use an online file storage service to store them. XDrive is a free service that will give you 5GB of free storage.

Do you work with useful on-demand applications or operating systems?