Desktop.com offers comfortable surroundings
- — 23 September, 1999 21:49
The dream of true Web-based application portals for office productivity software took another step forward this week. The introduction of Desktop.com, a free Internet-based application set that offers desktop OS-like functionality, boosts the notion that the Web may eventually replace your physical desktop.
Touted as the first Web site of its kind, Desktop.com offers a graphical user interface for you to create a personal desktop. It can contain personal files, links to favourite Web sites, and various other services. The promise is that from any Web browser, you could log on to your own personal and familiar desktop.
Desktop.com offers 10MB of free storage space for work, personal, audio or other files to which a user needs ubiquitous access. You can share files with other Desktop.com users so family and friends can see photos, announcements or invitations. Company work groups can share documents, files or to-do lists.
The company is also making available the application programming interface with which programmers can develop various Web-based applications. Applications running inside windows within Desktop.com are accessible through icons or pull down menus and look and feel similar to many PC programs.
As Web-based applications continue to proliferate, Desktop.com may serve as a way to aggregate disparate applications onto a desktop.
