Cloud was a browser-based operating system created by Good OS LLC, a
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
-based corporation. The company initially launched a Linux distribution called
gOS which is heavily based on
Ubuntu
Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed mostly of free and open-source software. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: '' Desktop'', ''Server'', and ''Core'' for Internet of things devices and robots. All ...
, now in its third incarnation.
Overview
The Cloud was a simplified
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...
that ran just a
web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...
, providing access to a variety of web-based applications that allowed the user to perform many simple tasks without booting a full-scale operating system. Because of its simplicity, Cloud could boot in just a few seconds.
The operating system is designed for Netbooks, Mobile Internet Devices, and PCs that are mainly used to browse the Internet. From Cloud the user can quickly boot into the main OS, because Cloud continues booting the main OS in the background.
Combining a browser with a basic operating system allows the use of
cloud computing
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mu ...
, in which applications and data "live and run" on the Internet instead of the hard drive.
Cloud can be installed and used together with other operating systems, or act as a standalone operating system. When used as a standalone operating system, hardware requirements are relatively low.
In 2009, Cloud was only officially available built into the
GIGABYTE M912 Touch Screen
Netbook.
Early reviews compared the operating system's user interface to
OS X and noted the similarity of its browser to
Google Chrome, although it is actually based on a modified
Mozilla Firefox browser
See also
*
ChromeOS
ChromeOS, sometimes stylized as chromeOS and formerly styled as Chrome OS, is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google. It is derived from the open-source ChromiumOS and uses the Google Chrome web browser as its principal user interfa ...
*
Mozilla Firefox
*
EasyPeasy
EasyPeasy (formerly named Ubuntu Eee) was a Linux-based operating system for netbooks. EasyPeasy was built upon Debian and Ubuntu, but was customized for low-powered computers and access to web applications. EasyPeasy is maintained as an open ...
*
Joli OS
Joli OS was an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution created by Tariq Krim and Romain Huet co-founders of the French company Jolicloud (also the name of the operating system until version 1.2). Joli OS is now an open source project, with source code ...
*
EyeOS
References
External links
Netbooks running new 'Cloud OS' rumored for CESGood OS introduce quick boot Cloud OS for netbooks
Cloud applications
Distributed data storage
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