Web desktops are here - and I'm loving it!

First there was your email on the web, then your docs & spreadsheets and with Web 2.0 marching ahead, the entire desktop is on the web. These ethereal environments promise to keep your entire context (files, shortcuts, desktop configuration et al) consistent and accessible from any computer anywhere in the web - a tall call indeed. Though most of them are at alpha / beta stages these are quite usable and provide features to fall in love with. The long list of Web desktop environments (Web-tops as they are called) includes some free-to-use, some subscription-based services. Some of these are even open-source - which is good news because that allows even organizations concerned with security to deploy intranet-only versions of this backed up by their own storage and run their own custom (licensed) apps... one can't exaggerate the convenience *that* provides.

You could be anywhere with a laptop / PC with hardly any storage or server backup but enough connectivity and do all your work and stuff on the web. With webtops you truly have a way to leave all your data in the secure confines of a backed-up, disaster-proof datacenter operated by your company or your ISP - and that includes the disaster of your laptop getting stolen on your return flight home. And I mean hardly any storage, because a laptop needs virtually 0GB storage to run the best desktop OS from a live CD and go online (see the previous post for details). I can rant on indefinitely about the benefits but I think the picture is clear. Web-tops are truly a great concept. It would be worth watching how they evolve and shape the web of tomorrow.

A good list of web-tops (though incomplete) can be found at the Wikipedia page on "Web Desktops" - it also has a nice introduction to what web desktops are all about. I am trying out G.ho.st (for publishing this post) and Desktoptwo. I am connected to the internet via a T1 lan (100 Mbps) and the desktop performance seems quite impressive on both. Both are flash-based and require your browser to have Flash Player 9 installed. I'll post on the comparative featuring/merits as I get to know them both better...

I'd be glad to hear from you in the comments, if you have any opinions on Web-tops or if you are evaluating and/or really like any particular web desktop.