MyOS - A different type of WebOS
Posted 28/03/2009 4:22:00 a.m. by Daniel in Computers
Something about the concept of a WebOS/Webtop/Web Desktop has always interested me. It seems like a cool idea to have your whole “operating system” running in a browser on some companies (or persons) server somewhere in the world. You would have access to all of your applications and documents anywhere in the world. So it all sounds great right? Not quite so.
In a traditional WebOS you have an account which stores your settings an documents. You use the applications the vendor has included, and if you need something else, well you’re more than likely out of luck. Same goes for if you want to change some of the “system” files to fix a bug or make your own enhancement say. You are served up code form the vendor and there’s little you can do to control it. You just hope that it, and “your” applications work (though at the same time it should be of some comfort the vendor has tested their code).
This got me thinking – Why not have a WebOS that more closely matches a standard desktop operating system? Something with programming API’s for accessing the file system etc. Something where everyone has their complete own virtual file system, they can install their own applications without affecting other users. Even run the core system files from their own instances so if they feel like tinkering with how it works they can. And best of all - Allow users to develop their own applications using a range of built-in libraries and controls.
So about 5 months ago I started writing a JavaScript framework for my idea. It only took a few weeks to realise my original framework wasn’t going to be flexible enough to follow the desktop OS model I’m attempting to follow. So I started from scratch. And, so far, the new frameworks managed to fit what I need.
At a low level it takes care of loading application classes and stylesheets and keeping track of the core systems like authentication. Up higher are classes that create a common application framework making it far easier to get windows with control in them up on screen. The framework takes care of registering the users application with the Task Manager so it can keep track, and the loading/saving of application settings plus more.
So far MyOS is still very simple (and only runs in Firefox). Everything’s read-only and there’s currently no way to read/change files… or do much else from a users level. But from a developers level there is a lot of functionality to explore. You should be able to write complete applications without needing to write a single line of HTML, and there are a couple of objects based on C# like Lists and Dictionaries. There is even a registry-like library in the works. The only downside is that there’s little documentation at this point around the developer stuff.
MyOS Desktop with File Explorer and Dev Studio running (Please excuse the ugly red X button)
If you would be interested in helping with MyOS (Programming, Design, Documentation, Ideas etc) then please contact me! I’d love to work with someone on the idea. Sure it may never be a commercial application, but if you have some spare time and find these types of things interesting, it could be a bit of fun.
Want to see it?
You can play around with the latest public release at http://myos.danielwylie.me - it includes a read-only version of Dev Studio. The ‘Run’ and ‘Explorer’ applications currently contain the most recent programming style – most of the other applications haven’t been updated in a while.
Posted By George Ekimoff on 9/08/2009 6:14:51 p.m.
Hey Daniel I am interested of your project. We have been looking for web os to integrate into our software package. If you have a pilot version ready we are interested to see it.