YouOS: YouHave To Be Kidding Me

Matt / 12.Apr.2007

Disclaimer:I know YouOS has been around for a while. I first discovered it last year, but it's come a ways since then. I think it's time YouOS got the attention it deserved.

The browser is the new desktop

In the words of their FAQ:

YouOS is a web operating system that lets you run diverse applications within a web browser.

I could just stop writing here. Every argument in favor of rich web applications eventually hits on the point "well it makes sense to put this particular application on the web in this particular context". Not for YouOS. Apparently it's not enough to put individual applications on the web. Now we need an operating system on the web, and from there, the sky's the limit! Let's first consider this from an architectural standpoint. Your typical desktop application runs on a stack like this:

With YouOS, you're now sitting on two additional layers of abstraction for no apparent reason:

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, let's ignore the fact that it's an operating system written in Javascript and give YouOS a chance. What are operating systems really about? Applications. It's been said time and again that users are tied to applications, not operating systems, so the platform should really be irrelevant. Let's take a look and see what applications are available for YouOS.

The lineup

I registered for YouOS and spent some time exploring their catalog of applications. I'll group the highlights into a few categories.

Cool

Okay, I'll admit it. There were a few applications in YouOS that actually made me say "hey, that's kind of cool". The first of these was YouNiversal Chat, which is a chat application that supports multiple languages. You can type in your native langauge and have all chat room text converted to the same (or another) language. I joined the chat, some guy was typing Chinese, and it was automatically translated into English for me. Pretty cool. Problem: the chat rooms only exist in YouOS world. If this app could connect to IRC or another real chat network, then it might actually be useful.

The other application I found interesting was the YouOS IDE. Thankfully, this was not a Javascript rendition of Eclipse (or another popular IDE), but a meta-development environment for YouOS applications. Providing the community with an easy way of extending YouOS is a pretty smart move. Unfortunately, tools are only half of the equation. The community's ideas for YouOS applications are less than impressive.

Marginally useful

The only applications I would consider useful at all would be YouSticky (a sticky notes app), YouIRC (because good web-based IRC clients are hard to find), and YouEditor (a rich text editor). I couldn't justify the existence of any other applcations that I found.

Useless

Here's the cream of the crop. YouOS is an operating system, so naturally it has YouFiles (a file system browser), and YouShell (a terminal). Wait, what? Oh yes, a file system and a terminal. To be honest, I don't know how their file system works, but I'm scared to find out. And the terminal doesn't have tab-completion? I'd be better off at a Windows DOS prompt. They even have YouProc, a process monitor for YouOS. Kind of cool. I guess.

Get ready for this. YouOS takes it to the next level of meta and gives you a browser within a browser. Actually, it gives you two. There's YouBrowser, which I guess is the YouOS equivalent of IE, and Wherewolf, the YouOS equivalent of Firefox. This is where I'm at a complete loss. YouOS is a web application, which means to be using it, you already have a web browser open. Most likely, you're running a conventional operating system like Mac OS, Windows or Linux, and you're using a browser like Firefox, IE or Safari that's written in native code and runs pretty smoothly. So why in the world would you want to browse the web from a web browser in an operating system running in a browser that you're already using?! I give up. Oh, and before you ask: yes, you can run YouOS in YouBrowser in YouOS. In fact, you can take it to as many levels of meta as your heart desires.

If you thought YouBrowser was ridiculous, then this is downright asinine. They have a Meebo app for YouOS. All it does is open a YouOS window and load the Meebo homepage inside it. What the fuck. I repeat: you're running YouOS, so you're already running a browser. Why can't you just open a new tab and type meebo.com? There's a host of other applications written in the same fashion, including Google Page Creator Window, Gmail, the list goes on.

Amusing

Fortunately, someone in the YouOS community obviously has a sense of humor. There's a USA Terror Alert widget that shows the current threat level in the United States, and an app that directly launches another instance of YouOS inside YouOS. Good stuff.

Why?

Herein lies the real question. Why does YouOS exist? Their manifesto gives a pretty good explanation. I must admit, it made some sense. The YouOS developers are smart guys from big name schools. YouOS is an experiment, and they're trying to push the envelope. Their grand vision of open APIs, collaboration, and liberation from hardware is ambitious and noble.

Unfortunately, I see two major obstacles. The first is that Javascript sucks. It's simply not fit to be a systems programming language. The web needs to see some major improvements before it's suitable as an operating system platform. The second is that the applications suck. Perhaps due to the marketing of YouOS as a complete operating system, users are trying to develop clones of their favorite desktop applications. However, all this has produced so far is apps like YouBrowser: less featured, lower quality versions of their desktop bretheren, with no immediate advantages. YouOS is either way ahead of their time, or way off the mark.

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11 Comments

The Internets inside the Internets http://morbidmorvick.googlepages.com/youOS.PNG

morbidmorvick / 12.Apr.2007 at 02:44pm

I suppose the most interesting thing about this would be the ability to create hardware devices that are nothing but Web browsers, and then run this as a platform regardless of chip architecture. Additionally, such a project could eventually provide for the sort of "roaming profile" ubiquitousness that some weirdos are striving for. With today's technology, though, you can have global access to almost all of your own stuff with strategic use of a few Web apps (the good ones, like del.icio.us and Gmail) plus an old computer running a free operating system and an SSH daemon. I've got an Ubuntu Server Edition machine at home doing just that.

brad beyenhof / 12.Apr.2007 at 03:55pm

A webos can also mean something else. Any OS should run apps, and a webos should run those apps wherever they happen to be on the web. So app A is appearing on a homepage on some crappy server without serverside support and almost no web space, and the actual code/sourcefile for app A is also at the same place.. you coded it yourself so you know it wont suck. However, it's being remotly executed at a server where you do have a) serverside execution and b) 1G of space for free. It's still appearing+running on your homepage though and nowhere else. - From A to B, and back to A.

mikael bergkvist / 12.Apr.2007 at 04:02pm

If you consider YouOS from the standpoint of a widget toolkit like QT or as a thin client environment for domain specific application it makes more sense. Just because it doesn't provide novel functionality doesn't mean that it doesn't have a market that can see it as a viable solution for some problem. The larger concept that the browser can be more than just a document view and actually provide a simple rendering engine is a huge step towards a more interesting Internet. Also, this is the third blog I have read from you and while each criticism has its points, there is a feeling that if it doesn't apply to your use cases then it doesn't warrant attention. I mention it only as suggestion because I do feel you bring a sense of reality to Web 2.0 that is helpful, yet if it gets buried because received negativity then folks lose a potentially helpful resource.

eric / 12.Apr.2007 at 04:46pm

To me, I see YouOS as a nifty experiment, but right off the bat I see a good use. With the increasing transparency of web transactions, there is utility in being able to do things as a truly anonymous user. Send email, browse the web etc... My Libertarian mind cheers any effort which even unintentionally allow me to do things anonymously, despite the real need for identity.

ernster / 12.Apr.2007 at 05:19pm

Is it me - or is this site virtually unreadable?

lloyd / 13.Apr.2007 at 09:59am

"Is it me - or is this site virtually unreadable?" - Subscribe to the feed in your favorite newsreader :). It's much more readable in Google reader! haha

lance / 13.Apr.2007 at 01:49pm

"With the increasing transparency of web transactions, there is utility in being able to do things as a truly anonymous user." If you create an account you can be tracked, you're no longer anonymous. But even if you use a gues account on YouOS it resolves to your IP. Go login as a guest, open YouBrowser and go to http://whatsmyip.org/. Note the IP. Now open your local browser and go to http://whatsmyip.org/. Note the IP. SAME IP. You are in no way anonymous. ;O) "Also, this is the third blog I have read from you and while each criticism has its points, there is a feeling that if it doesn't apply to your use cases then it doesn't warrant attention." Totally the reason I come here. I'm a very Disney Ending - The Future is Bright - The Internet will transform the world kind of guy... but you have to admit that while we're moving in the right direction there is a LOT of over hype... I love the cynical attitude here. ;o) Keep up the good work.

paul spoerry / 13.Apr.2007 at 02:44pm

I had the same reaction to YouOS. I do think there is value in the idea of a web OS -- if you define an OS as a service that coordinates resources (data, messages) between (web) applications. So these experiments are worthwhile if they eventually evolve into something like that... but I simply don't see the point of a web desktop. I already have a desktop, and I don't need to run a browser on my desktop in the browser on my desktop.

lawrence mcalpin / 13.Apr.2007 at 06:37pm

Netscape Constellation. Variations on a theme we've been hearing since '96. Because, you know, the web is going to make the desktop and all computers completely obsolete. "Software is no longer tied down to one computer." - again, hearing this one since at least '96. Java, XUL, Flash, Flex, Apollo, whatever the hell Netscape was smoking in the Constellation days, and plain ol' HTML itself.

jeff shell / 14.Apr.2007 at 04:24am

center tags are so web 1.0... do you read your own blog in rss?

idiot / 15.Apr.2007 at 11:04pm

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