Both Google and Microsoft are making big promises about browser-based environments that allow you to access documents, spreadsheets, calendars, contacts, and more, all in one place online. But so far, it’s not entirely clear how these systems will work or what they will be able to do. Google’s Chrome OS, for example, will be designed primarily to get you online faster.
But why do you need a Google OS when you already have access to so many of Google’s online tools--such as Google Docs, Gmail, and Google Reader--all of which are available from any browser on any operating system? Microsoft Office 2010, meanwhile, will let you access Web versions of Microsoft’s famous suite of productivity applications--that is, it will be a Web-based suite that will compete directly with Google Docs.
While we wait for the big guns to launch those products, a good number of services already allow you to put your own computer in the cloud for free. Most of the products I looked at are called Webtops, application suites that try to give you the look and feel of a regular computer desktop within a Web browser.
Many Webtops let you store files and media online, save browser bookmarks, and access a variety of Web apps such as word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation software from almost any browser. Some of these Webtops have been around for several years, while others are younger upstarts still trying to work the bugs out. I took several of these cloud-based systems for a quick spin to see how the future is shaping up. Let’s start with the two that impressed us most.