Tag: browser

10 Web Operating Systems Reviewed - Maybe You Try One

My initial reaction to the thoughts of a web based operating system is "Wow! This is so cool". Then I realise that none of these "Web Operating Systems" is really an operating system but are really "Web Based Desktop Environment". Web based operating systems run in a browser which requires of course an operating system. So then I have to ask: "Why not just use the operating system before me?". Well, there are a lot of reasons to use these services. For one thing I can access my virtual desktop from any computer with a broadband internet connection and a web browser. Actually that may be the only reason to use a web based OS. Here's a review of some popular alternatives.

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Online Wordprocessing

TechCrunch » Blog Archive » Writely - Process Words with your Browser

Imagine Word, but as an ajax browser application that was free. And allowed tagging of documents. And you could set reader permissions for each document you create and allow others to edit the document, or just read it. That’s what Writely is.

I have been thinking about this a lot recently.  I have found myself using my web browser to do everything in my computing life and expect more and more.  I use Google Calendar, Google Talk, Gmail, Writely and Google Spreadsheet for my day to day activities.  Even this blog post is being doing from a Firefox web browser extension (Peformancing).  I find this allows me to use whatever computing platform is available (OS X, Windows, Linux) to get my work done.  How soon before I not longer need the use of a desktop app?  What does this mean for rich client applications like Word and Excel?  I never did need all the functionality of Word or Excel.

powered by performancing firefox

Performancing for Firefox

The Performancing extension for Firefox is awesome. Normally I log into my blog to do edits and posts. I expect that I should be able to do everything from within the browser especially now AJAX (aka Web 2.0) is built into most web applications. This extension frees the poster from the first navigating to the blogging site. At any point, I just click the little icon in the lower right of the Firefox window and start typing. Almost all blogging API are supported including my favourites Blogger and WordPress.

So what formatting options does Performancing for Firefox have?

  • Quotes
  • Underlines,Italics and Bold
  • Resize Text (Small and Big)
  • Insert Links
  • Text Colour
  • Text alignment (left, center, right, and justified)

One can also insert images by URL only and switch between a WYSIWYG type editor or HTML source. Their is also a preview feature so the user can see what the post would look like when complete. On the left of the editor window one can change the editors settings, such as how the editor displays in the browser and content styling.

Categories

On the right of the edit window you can select the Blogs tab to the blog that you are posting to. When posting one can choose from the categories available for that post, assuming that one's blogging software supports that feature. WordPress does but Blogger does not.

Performancing keeps a list of the most recent posts. You can select one of these for editing. Images can be added to a post either by clicking the image linking icon and entering he image URL or simply dragging from the desktop to the image editor. I found Performancing for Firefox to be useful and I will be adding it to my bloggers toolbox.