Will OS Still Matter?

Geeks around the world are divided into roughly three groups, the Windows Geeks, the Linux Geeks, and the Apple Geeks. These groups constantly debate that their Operating System (OS) of choice is the best and that they are more productive on their chosen OS. The truth behind that statement will all depend on which point-of-view a spectator takes but if looking at the issue from a different angle and taking into account the continuing developments in web design and implementation, I can safely say that in a few year's time, the choice of OS will no longer be an important factor in working with computers. What would matter is if the computer uses a standards-compliant web browser.

One of the biggest advantage of using Windows today is its ability to run the Microsoft Office suite -- the de facto standard in business documentation. It also runs a host of other important applications that is used in business (accounting, management, programming, etc.). So it is no brainer to see that MS Windows is the dominant OS in the world today. Linux is a stable os that is used as a web server for a most of the machines connected in the internet. Most large websites uses Linux as their OS. Apple excels in the creative field. A lot of graphic designers uses an Apple (with OS X) as their workhorse, churning out stunning graphics and beautiful music.

But in recent months, we are starting to see a lot of programs being ported online. Take Writely for example. This website allows users to do word processing without even installing anything on their computer. Being web-based, a document created using Writely.com can be shared and collectively edited by more than one person collaboratively. As of this writing, more sites that offer similar services are coming out -- thanks to AJAX. There are even websites that emulate a whole computer desktop -- complete with an email client, notepad and other things -- making the actual user's desktop sometimes pale in comparison. I tried one service called goowy and it does a great job of emulating an OS X desktop.

I think that the future of personal computing will go the way of web-based applications. That in the near future, people wouldn't care what OS they are using as long as they can connect to their website of choice and access the data they stored online. Will the OS wars continue? Probably but I think it won't be long before people will start to consider themselves "platform agnostic" just like me. =)

technorati tags: musings, OS Wars