Andrew S Minette
POS/355
University of Phoenix
Internet operating systems, or Web operating systems, are not operating systems per say. There are more of user interfaces. An operating system is dependent on system hardware and uses hard disk space on a user computer to install and store applications. Web operating systems, however, depend on traditional operating systems to run an instance.
According to Jonathan Strickland or How Stuff Works, while there may not be an abundance of computer operating systems, mainly just Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS and Linux, there are dozens of Web operating systems to choose from. Some are accessed using a web browser, while others must be downloaded and installed which create a system-specific client (Strickland, 2011).
Web operating systems give access to many programs that could be run on a computer desktop. For instance: games, photos, calendars or word processing. Unlike a traditional operating system, running these applications does not use a system’s hard disk since there is no installation necessary. Google has its own Web operating system for word processing entitles “Google Docs.” With Google Docs, a user can create and edit word documents, spreadsheets and presentations among others. Using Google Docs would allow a user to easily switch between systems without backing up to a CD-ROM or USB thumb drive. iCloud is an Internet operating system that allows a person to store information from an iOS device and then use that information within a web browser or on another iOS device. For instance, a person can schedule an appointment on the calendar of their iPhone and later review that appointment on the calendar of their iPad. A user can also edit the contacts through iCould.com. In order to take advantage of the iWork application, a user must first download and install the Pages application from the Apple App Store or from Apple iTunes. This application cost $9.99, but allows a user to