Make Tech Easier » cloud computing

Create Your Own Cloud Operating System With EyeOS

Damien — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:18:52 +0000

A cloud OS simply refers to an operating system (or an interface filled with a complete suite of desktop applications) that resides on the Web and you can access to it anytime, anywhere as long as you have an Internet connection.

While there are plenty of cloud OS out there that you can sign up and use for free, there might be instances where you want to have your own dedicated cloud OS. First of all, signing up a free account with third-party cloud OS often means that you have limited file storage space and all your data are stored in other people’s server. Next, the connection speed is dependent on the number of active users at any time. The more popular the site is, the slower it will get when you are using it.

If what you want is your own dedicated Web OS that you can use to manage your online stuff, and also to provide an environment to collaborate with your colleagues/partners, then eyeOS is the software for you.

EyeOS is a free and open source cloud OS software that you can install on your own Web server.

One thing that I like about eyeOS is its small file size and ease of installation. The whole package is only 2.5MB in size, and the installation required almost zero configuration (well, there are still several steps involved) and anyone who know how to use a FTP program can get it up and running in no time.

Installing eyeOS

1) Download eyeOS.

2) Extract the zipped file. You should see a eyeOS folder with all the files inside.

3) Open your FTP program. If you want to install eyeOS on a top-level domain (for example, http://your-site.com) upload all the files and folders within the eyeOS folder to your Web server (do not upload the eyeOS folder, but just the files and folders within). If instead, you want your cloud OS to reside at a sub-level domain (such as http://your-site.com/eyeos), then upload the whole eyeOS folder.

4) On your browser, go to http://your-site.com/installer (or http://your-site.com/eyeOS/installer if you have uploaded the whole folder instead). You should see a screen that prompts you to enter your root password and the hostname.

5) In the next screen, you will be able to login to your cloud OS. (Didn’t I say it is easy?)

The first time you log in, you will see a nice and clean desktop with all its items nicely arranged in the four side of the screen. n the left is where all the shortcut icons are and the right is the application widget. The top of the screen lies a dock and the bottom is the eyeOS system bar where you can access the system administration and log out from the session.

Office suite

By default, there is a simple WYSIWYG text editor, spreadsheet and a presentation viewer (no presentation creation yet) that you can use. For those who are in need of a complete Office suite, you can follow the instructions here to get Open Office installed.

PIM

There is a Calendar, Contact, and an internal messaging module in the default setting of eyeOS. You can easily install the eyeMail via the Package Manager to access to your POP3 account. The Contact module allows you to import/export all your contacts in .vcf format.

Games

With so many websites that provide free flash games for you to play during your free time, I wonder how many people will want to spend their time on simple games within eyeOS. Nevertheless, Chess and Tetravex are two good additions to the software.

FTP

This is useful if you need a file from a remote site. You can now easily access it via the FTP module.

Package Manager

This is the applications installer for eyeOS. It allows you to install plenty of useful modules for you cloud OS. I am pretty impressed with the number of applications it supported and the speed at which it downloads and installs the application. The package manager can be accessed at the top of the Application menu.

Lastly,

If you are comparing eyeOS to the real physical desktop on your computer, it is definitely not up to mark, but if you are just looking at a dedicated platform that allows you to access to the various applications and your own files at anytime, anywhere and also a place for collaboration, then eyeOS has done a great job.

EyeOS is extensible via the installer modules in the System Preferences, and if you install the eyeSync, you can also sync a local folder on your computer with your dedicated eyeOS, which is a great way to backup your files (just like Dropbox).

For its ease of use, great functionality and at a price of FREE, this is definitely a software that I would strongly recommend.

Have you tried it? If not, better grab it now.

Create Your Own Cloud Operating System With EyeOS originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Fancy An Online Desktop?

Damien — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:27:19 +0000

Online desktop (some call it online operating system, or WebOS) literally means putting the whole operating system online and allow users to have their own desktop where they can access anywhere in the World with an Internet connection.

Just like your desktop in your PC, there will be a standard suite of software such as the email client, office suite, IM, contact available in your online desktop. The idea behind it is to promote mobility and enable users to share and access their files easily. If you are always on the move and hate the feeling of lugging your laptop around, then syncing your local desktop with an online desktop might be a good idea for you.

DesktopTwo

DesktopTwo is one of the earliest player in the online desktop arena. It is also one of the more popular one around. I also find it to be the most stable among the rest.

Some of its features include:

Web IM
MP3 player
Adress book
Open Office and PDF reader
RSS reader
Access to desktoptwo forum where you can post for instant help
Live chat
Mail client
Your own blog account hosted with desktoptwo and a blog publisher that support tags, full or partial RSS feeds, blog templates and the ability to edit the CSS.
WYSIWYG web page editor

The free account comes with a 1GB storage. You can also upgrade your storage to 5GB for $25, 10GB for $45, 25GB for $95 and 50GB for $185.

myGOYA

myGOYA is an online desktop with nice interface. The navigation is easy as there is only a few buttons for you to choose.

Some of its features include:

File manager
mail client
Calendar
Flickr search
Zoho Office
contact
chat
bookmark manager
online album, media manager
some useful widget such as calculator, kitchen clock, web search bar etc

At this moment, myGOYA is still in testing stage and many of the things are not completed yet. Some of the applications (such as integration with zoho office) are still not ready. Nevertheless, it shows great promise and have the potential to be another great online desktop.

Online Operating system

Online Operating Systme (OOS) gives you a very simple interface, too simple that makes you feel like you are in the Windows 95 era.

While its interface is simple, it does has an advantage: speed. OOS takes very little resource on your browser and PC. In fact, among all the other online desktop, OOS loads and runs the fastest. You can find basic desktop features such as email client, contact, file manger, except for the lack of an office suite. The closest alternative is a writer that is akin to Windows Wordpad. Some other features include Youtube downloader and mini games. It also has a web browser included, which makes me wonder is that really necessary. (Is there really a need for a web browser in an online desktop when you are already surfing in a browser that could probably run and load faster than the one inside the online desktop?)

AJAX windows

AJAXWindows did one thing different from the rest. Instead of providing online storage, it uses your Gmail account to store all your documents, files, music. Though I am not really confident of its security, I do like the idea of using Gmail as storage. This is better than being bounded to the 1GB restriction set by most online desktops. You could just upload files without worry about storage space.

Inside the desktop, there are links to all the various Google sites (Google docs, calendar, images, news etc), ZOHO office and meebo. Clicking on the links will open the sites in a new browser window (or tab). I would prefer it to integrate these features into the desktop rather than opening a link to the site, which somehow defy the purpose of using an online desktop.

In general – nice AJAX interface, good storage concept, useful links, but of little functionality.

Fancy An Online Desktop? originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)