DesktopTwo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Desktoptwo | |
---|---|
Desktoptwo screenshot |
|
Developed by | Sapotek |
Latest release | Beta |
Genre | Web application |
License | AGPLv1 Creative Commons |
Website | Official Desktoptwo Website |
Desktoptwo is a free Desktop as a Service (DaaS) or Webtop developed by Sapotek (it's also been called a WebOS although Sapotek makes clear on its website that the term is premature and a bit presumptuous) that mimics the look, feel and functionality of the desktop environment of an operating system. The software is currently in beta stage yet has acquired, along with its sister site in Spanish called Computadora.de, more than 210,000 active users since its launch in August 2006. Desktoptwo is fully web-based and requires Adobe Flash Player to operate. Unlike some other online desktops, which are more akin to aggregators of stand-alone applications, the web applications found on Desktoptwo are built on the same open source scripting language, PHP, and as a result are interoperable and include, for example, drag-and-drop functionality.[citation needed] Sapotek is also the sponsor of a free software community, Sapodesk, through which it has liberated all the web applications found on Desktoptwo and works with community members to create additional open source web applications and rich Internet applications.
Desktoptwo belongs to a category of services that intend to turn the Web into a full-fledged platform by using web services as a foundation along with display technologies that replicate the experience of desktop applications for users. In a "Cloud OS", or what is essentially a Service-oriented architecture, the functionality of a server is granularized and abstracted as Web services that Web developers can use to create composite applications similar to how desktop software developers use several APIs of the OS to create their applications. Sites like Facebook attempt to create a similar effect by exposing their APIs and allowing developers to create applications upon these.
Some of the features currently found on Desktoptwo are:
- File sharing
- Webmail
- Blog creator
- Instant messenger
- Address book
- Calendar
- Live Chat rooms
- Notepad
- Bookmarks/Favorites
- Message boards
- RSS Reader
- Website Editor
- Office productivity applications
- Online document collaboration