Cloudo, A simply beautiful operating system

Cloud based operating systems are relatively new and there are very few out there let alone one that can actually replace a locally installed operating system. At least up until now.

Introducing Cloudo

The Cloudo company started in Stockholm, Sweden by 4 guys with the idea of developing a new Cloud based operating system. Now 3 years later they have officially introduced it and are offering an open beta to anyone that wants to try it out.

Written in javascript and XML/XSLT, Cloudo can run on any computing platform as long as it has a broadband Internet connection and a compatible Internet browser. Anyone can develop for the platform with the built in development tools and provided documentation.

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Not like the others

I have used a couple of cloud based operating systems in the last year and they were all very unappealing to me. They were slow, ugly, boring, and to finish it off you need to have a really good Internet connection to make it work. Operating systems are supposed to help you to be more productive and make your life easier, and if they don’t they are only a novelty and have no place in today’s fast paced world.

Most Cloud OS companies are marketing the convenience of having your OS available anywhere with an Internet connection. While the convenience of having your files anywhere on the Internet and easily accessible can be attractive, why wouldn’t you use one of the many services that backup your data to the Internet?

What’s Different?

The biggest change from other Cloud OS’s that I have seen is that Cloudo is simply beautiful. The graphical appeal is not only there it makes me want to ditch Windows 7, no questions asked.

Performance is far better than any other Cloud OS I have tried and that is really saying something. My current Internet connection is via satellite and can be painfully slow at times. Prior to accessing Cloudo for the first time I needed to download Firefox as Cloudo does not work with IE 8 or Opera (my personal preference). The Firefox download at 7.2 MB took about 5 minutes to download. Accessing Cloudo immediately after only took 10 seconds.

One of the most refreshing things about Cloudo is that it doesn’t have the feeling of imitating another OS. The skins are there if you want it to look like a multitude of different operating systems but none of them have the appeal of Cloudo’s looks.

Applications

The majority of applications currently available are basic games such as Sudoku, Solitaire and Snake. Many of the applications such as the Weather app are essentially gadgets like those found in OSX or Windows Vista/7. One thing in common that most of the applications have is that they are aesthetically pleasing. This is a very consistent theme all throughout Cloudo.

There is a distinct lack of applications for things such as email and Internet browsing. An RSS reader is included but I find that to almost be a teaser and have no purpose without a way to surf the Internet and remain in the OS. It consistently bothered me the more I used it that if I needed to do something on the Internet I had to leave Cloudo.

While there is currently not a large selection of applications to choose from that is likely to change once Cloudo is more in the public spotlight.

Complaints/Observations

The number one complaint that I have with Cloudo is that it is web based. Why can’t I get this as my primary operating system installed to my hard drive?
There is currently no web browser installed. I know you execute the OS via an Internet browser but once I am using Cloudo I don’t want to go back to Windows to surf the Internet.
Limited amount of applications currently available.
Manual is lite on content which is probably due to them focusing on development at this time.
The company needs a better marketing team. No one has been talking about Cloudo only because they don’t know it exists.
My Music and My Pictures are not in the same directory as My Documents. This is not very intuitive and needs to be changed to help with the flow of things.
There are still some bugs with it that no doubt will be worked out before release.

Final Verdict

Sign up while you still can! There are limited slots available for beta testers and they will go fast once the word gets out.

There are many Cloud based operating systems coming out or being announced right now but they might be late to the show. Both AMD Fusion Render Cloud and gOS Cloud were recently announced at CES. gOS is way out of it’s league when pitted against Cloudo and AMD Fusion Render Cloud is more geared towards gamers and power users. Another Cloud OS is Windows Azure however it is geared towards large corporations and is not something average consumers will likely see or utilize.

Clearly when looking at the competition Cloudo is way ahead of the curve and is sure to amass a cult following if they can continue to make it work and do so artfully.

If you have read any of my other reviews you know I tend to be very critical of operating systems in general. This review is not critical for a very good reason, there is little to be critical of. Make sure you check it out and come back and give everyone your feedback on Cloudo.

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Check It Out> Cloudo, Sign up for the beta, Cloudo Blog

8 Comments

Holden Page

Said,

I think Cloudo is ok, definetly not the greatest online web OS out there though it does beat out such web OS like gho.st and EyeOS.

I had a very iffy experience with it, lots of errors and bugs. Also I do not believe it is completely coded in javascript and the like. Right clicking would sometimes provide with the typical adobe flash menu.

They have a lot of work in a head of them and I think gOS cloud doesn’t even compare, it is quite superior in terms of usability as far as I can tell.

The Geek

What internet browser were you using? I was finally able to discover some bugs (it is still beta) last night but I really would like to hear more oppinions like yours. In talking to several friends about Cloudo I am really starting to wonder if there needs to be more clarification on exactly what a Cloud OS is. Is it merely a GUI application on the internet that resembles a standard OS? Or is it a standard OS that has been ported to be accesible via the internet?

In your oppinion what are better Cloud OS’s?

I was using it manly on google chrome but I also used it on IE, IE beta 8 and Firefox ( I like my browsers lol)

I do think there needs to be more clarification and right now I believe that Cloudo is simply a gui application on the internet that resembles an OS. I actually said in my blog (just click on my name to go to the article) that it looks like a glorified online file storage.

I think this is especially proven with Cloudo because of the way you can switch themes to mimick xp, linux distros and Mac. It definetly isn’t an OS ported to the web in my opinion. The browser is taking care of that.

The Cloud OS’s out there need a true developer environment and need to show that they can build applications comparable to a true hardware installed OS before they get anywhere.

With my now having more time to play with it and get feedback from several people I am starting to think I need to dive in and figure out exactly what should qualify as a Cloud OS.

While Cloudo is cool I think that an OS should be more than glorified online storage.

The very first Cloud OS I used a couple years ago was unique in that it has an actuall desktop that booted off of the Internet. There was a limited OS on the computer just enough to get it up and running and hooked up to the internet and then all of your files and programs were installed to the internet.

The thing I really hated about that was just how painfully slow everything was. We had a 10 MB connection and it still took forever for it to do things. That is one of the reasons I do like Cloudo is that everything is fast.

Between your blog and mine maybe we can give some more deffinition to what exactly Clouds OS’s should be.

Exactly, it should be more than glorified online storage, it should be something that’s useful that truly represents an Operating System.

Definition of OS (from answers.com): Computer program that allows users to enter and run their software packages. The operating system allows the machine to recognize and carry out the accountant’s command. Further, there are built-in routines permitting the user’s software to conduct input-output operations without specifying the exact hardware configuration. The operating system normally consists of the job control program, the input/output control system, and the processing program. If a computer operates under one system, it cannot use programs designated for a different operating system.

1. Run software package
- Cloudo does this, sort of… there more like widgets though if anything. Not much use.

2. Allows machine to recognize accountants command
-Cloudo does this.

3. If a computer operates under one system. It cannot use programs designated for another OS
- With the web being so open I think this is a gray area.

So based off of these standards (I know its limited but lets go with it) Cloudo could be considered an Operating System, with the browser being the hardware (theoretically).

Though if we base it off that argument, iGoogle could be considered an online Operating System. It interacts with the browser, you can build apps and deploy them (some of them with a lot more functionality).

So should there be a seperate definition of web OS?

It would be an interesting topic to research and to make comparisons across multiple self-declared online operating systems (cloud OS) and what makes them such.

We should defiantly continue this conversation, send me an e-mail and we should work on this. Lots of questions here that need to be explored.

After all of that I am thinking maybe a Wiki would be a better way to go to better define it. Maybe things like Cloudo are better classified as GUI Online Storage.

That sounds like a great idea.

Send me an e-mail when and how you would like to do this.

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