A month or two ago, we started hearing rumors that Google is seriously looking into a desktop OS of their own. I snickered at it, with the looming thought in the back of my mind that yes, some day Google will rule the world.
Up until now, I never really thought Google had any chance at an OS of their own. Everyone keeps talking about them incorporating their gmail client, maps, calendering, and even rumors of an office app into an OS, but I could never see how they could do it.
Well, my mind has been cleared. Recently I’ve been reading Manning’s AJAX In Action and well, it has inspired me of an entirely new revolution in web development. Boys and Girls, the web has finally moved to the desktop.
Concepts of AJAX teach that a web application is initially loaded to the desktop, and then all of the application logic for that application occurs on the Desktop itself, rather than the server handling it all. Javascript sends and receives XML back and forth to and from the server, resulting in less data being transferred, and more control over the UI. Essentially, it has become the equivalent of Swing or Gtk for the web.
Now, here’s my vision, and I bet you $100 that Google will adopt this: Imagine a simple, open-source, easily extendible OS such as Ubuntu running on your computer. Now, replace Gnome (or KDE for you Kubuntu fans out there) with a nice, AJAX front-end to control all your apps. Essentially, the desktop and the browser will be one in the future. You just won’t know you’re using a browser – you will come to miss “the good old days” of the browser eventually.
These guys have the right idea, but I’m imagining a more integrated system with the OS. Because this type of desktop management system is very easily extendible, it supports the OSS model much better than the closed-source models. Microsoft had better take note, because if they haven’t already started on this, they’ll be stuck to writing XBox Games and Entertainment Centers. But then again, Google could rule that too.
Stay N' Alive 