Ajaxwindows : Platform as a Service

Filed in archive Web 2.0 on September 19, 2007

As more and more applications have moved to the Web, things are getting more and more serious. This movement was picked up by companies and labelled SaaS (Software as a Service), and the tie-wearing ceo's came up with another expensive way of saying something : PaaS (Platform as a Service). Basically, that's an operating system (for regular users, a desktop with everything they need to do their work) which is not running on the juicy pc you have beneath your desk in the office, the operating system is delivered through the network.

So what does that remind you and me of ? Thin Clients. Thin Clients are basically mini computers without expensive hardware, but with a small rom chip that controls the hardware and good network interfaces. It typically receives it's operating system from a server. So where am I going with all this ?

Well, I stumbled upon Ajaxwindows, a webbased desktop (they dare calling it an operating system) that is delivered through your browser. We have seen several webbased desktops in the past, but this one is supposed to be the most feature rich one. The biggest difference with most webbased desktops is that it looks like a complete desktop environment, with menus and icons, even desktop widgets are supported. And oh yeah, it's all very very Web 2.0 - Ajax technology makes it work smooth. But still, it is something you open in a browser, so I could not see how this is extraordinary (yet). See, if you would be able to run this on a low specced pc, sure, it could be a nice replacement for an expensive pc. And certainly for cybercafés, it could mean a big difference. But right now, I have my doubts, however good it looks and feels.