From Norway comes another project that shares the same principles of Chrome OS and it’s probably an alternative or accessorial to that system.
Opera Unite simply turns your computer into a server. You still use it as a normal computer, but you can also share all the datas you have on it with your friends and who you’re connected with.
This Article is related to Chrome OS: Revolutionary?

Opera Unite

At Opera they say it is also a way of owning back our datas and our freedom of decision-making on a certain level. Right now we have to rely on third party servers that host our materials or on third party services that host our contacts and make the rules with “terms of service” (i.e. facebook, myspace, etc).

Our computers are only dumb terminals connected to other computers (meaning servers) owned by other people — such as large corporations — who we depend upon to host our words, thoughts, and images. We depend on them to do it well and with our best interests at heart. We place our trust in these third parties, and we hope for the best, but as long as our own computers are not first class citizens on the Web, we are merely tenants, and hosting companies are the landlords of the Internet.
Social networking is important, but who owns it — the online real estate and all the content we share on it? How much control over our words, photos, and identities are we giving up by using someone else’s site for our personal information? How dependent have we become? I imagine that many of us would lose most of our personal contacts if our favorite Web mail services shut down without warning. ( … )
— by Lawrence Eng via Opera Labs —

Opera Unite instead makes possible to make connections straight from our computer to another without a third player.
Instead of using an online service you could just use an application that runs on your computer and on your friend’s one.

Let’s see a practical exemple to fully understand how it could work.
There is an application available right now (that you may not know but it’s clever so go check it if you’re interested) called Simplify. You install it and create an account. After that you pick which folders you want to share online and you open your favourite music player. If you have some friends running that application and you connect to their account you can then listen to whatever track they have shared and they can do the same with you (cool as hell, I tried and I really like it).
So basically it’s like you have at your disposal all those gigabytes of music, even if they actually are stored on your friend’s terminal.

Unite promise to do something like that (they also have a media player like Simplify but more lame) with the plus side to extend that to a huge number of possibilities as many application will be developed and will run on every operative systems where already runs Opera.

I have to admit that even if I love the project I’m a bit less excited by the fact that it really reminds me of old peer to peer networks. It’s obviously great that they are applying the concept to every kind of application, but the idea is not that new.
So we understand that the future is to be completely online, but Unite is taking a stand and a different direction from the current trends.

Chrome OS tries to project all our work online making it accessible from everywhere and to try to keep computers fast and clean. By that philosophy the logic association that comes to mind is cloud computing, with all our datas stored somewhere and the result of make them always accessible as well.
Opera Unite instead wants you to own back the power over your informations and online identities making the individual user the only player.

Two different approaches to a near future. What would you prefer? In your opinions what are pros and cons?

Evolution is an on-going process by definition and sometimes we notice some signs that times are changing, that we are approaching a new step. To me, Chrome OS and Opera Unite seem two interesting projects moving in the right direction to evolve our internet experience and push it forward.
This article is related to Opera Unite: Your computer will be a server.

Ok, this is not a news in a conventional meaning as many of you may have already heard of this project, but I couldn’t miss the chance to talk about it even if I’m a few weeks late.
Let me introduce you Google Chrome OS, not to be misunderstood with the browser, we’re rather talking about a complete Operative System.

Google Chrome OS

It’s a brave move from Google to enter a market where Microsoft and Apple are leading since ages and where Linux have a strong community in developers or geeks.
However they obviously took this into account and they propose a valid alternative to the known reality. They actually offer a new way of thinking other then a new set of programs. Chrome OS is a system that should operate completely online. Infact, it’s thought for those who are always connected and in the first period will be available only for laptops.

Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems.(…)

At Google they claim it will be extremely fast. This a key factor as it’s something we’re always looking for.
Sometimes it’s just a matter of having cutting edge components to ensure speed and stability, but with the new system Chrome tries to ensure something that many Windows users wish: it should be fast and stay fast.

We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them(…)

Yes, that would be nice.

It should be made possible also because this OS is expected to run mostly online applications. If we match this with the fact that it will be build on top of Linux architecture we have a great chance that it will generate endless possibilities. This project will be open to the open-source community and I expect it to become one of the main interest of devolepers around the globe. They will be able to implement it and create new applications. We know this is a successful strategybecause we saw how big Linux grew and how the iphone applications are booming in this period. Moreover you have always to trust the Web, when you give users the power if the material is good you never know what to expect, they usually go beyond thought possibilities finding new purposes.

My personal opinion (personal, let me stress it) is that the brand new way of re-thinking Operative Systems adapting them to the new era is a possible win. I hope so.
Meanwhile Microsoft keeps adding whistle and bells to Windows updating the version number but not really changing things. It’s also strange to me to see the world going for portable devices, mobiles playing as a computer, wireless connections always more present and see Microsoft creating a system that requires 4 giga of ram just to boot.
Chrome’s approach definetely sounds logic to me.
How you feel About this new OS? Revolutionary or not?