MyWebOS.com Launches Web Based OS

Baltimore (eFront News) - MyWebOS.com launched its new Web-based operating system Tuesday offering 20 megabytes of storage space to users who sign up for the free beta. The site is the first attempt to market a Web-based operating system to Internet users.

For the moment, MyWebOS is free and offers an office productivity suite of software called Hyperoffice 2000. Hyperoffice includes various tools including a word processor, email, calendar, and contact management. The software runs on the server side and no information is stored on the user's computer. This feature makes it much easier for users to transfer their files and applications from computer to computer. It can also serve as a cost cutter for small businesses since there is less client side maintenance for the IS department, as well as lower software costs.

Shervin Pishevar, president and CEO of myWebOS.com told eFront, "Until now, software has only been available through expensive purchases, regardless of how often it's used. With myWebOS, current applications are free, and future applications will be purchased on a 'per use' basis, much like a public utility. This means even the smallest company can access affordable software. The software marketplace will never be the same."

While the service requires no special software to be present on the user's system, it does have some drawbacks. When eFront tried to use the web based OS, it was still not quite as fast as a real office suite such as Microsoft Office 2000, but the speed was more than adequate for normal usage. There would also be longer delays if you were saving a large file onto MyWebOS' server. Right now, MyWebOS can't function as the OS of the computer, forcing users to boot up with Windows, Linux, or another OS to open their web browsers into MyWebOS.