Operating systems take a step onto the Web

US company, MywebOS.com, has launched what it claims to be the world's first entirely Web based operating system.

The company says the OS avoids the need for client/server configuration by using the Internet as the network. This reduces maintenance costs and gives universal access to data and is similar to a thin client architecture.

One of the first packages to run under MywebOS is Hyperoffice 2000, an office suite that includes a Web based word processor, email client, calendar, and contact management functionality.

Mark Lilycrop, director of research at analyst company Xephon, said: "This is the thin client idea, just applied to the OS and applications. It turns your desktop into an application front end."

The OS will also include business to business applications from a variety of third party ecommerce and business application companies. The OS and its applications can also be resold as a branded product through ISPs and ASPs.

Lilycrop said the idea would reduce costs because users would not have to pay full price for an OS. It was even cheaper than thin client, which was often touted to do the same thing.

Shervin Pishevar, MywebOS president, said that the system opens the software market for end users because "current applications are free, and future applications will be purchased on a per-use basis, much like a public utility."

"The browser becoming the OS is a natural evolution," but added that it is impractical in the UK. "It will take off in the US first where the bandwidth pricing model is more stable."