Number 201 - February 2000

Webtop Sites
by Bob Thomson, Tacoma Open Group
Webtop sites are "Virtual Desktops" offering the use of resident software to create and store personal or business data or document files on the site. This relatively new idea may be the beginning of a developing trend, to move away from personal ownership of word processor, spreadsheet, database and other software, in favor of using that offered by the webtop site. Rumor has it that Sun will soon offer StarPortal, a webtop version of the currently free StarOffice suite.     In future, you may create and store your personal files on such a webtop site. You won't have to have the software on your computer, you will simply use that provided by the webtop site. You also will use sample templates provided at the site and adapt them to your needs. You will then store your files there, using your private, or corporate, password. Once stored, you can access, or share, the data files, using the Internet, from any computer anywhere in the world. Very convenient. If you would like to try out this concept you can sign on to the following free-for-the-moment sites. Spreadsheet:     http://www.halfbrain.com [beta] Database:     http://www.flashbase.com	Whether or not this concept will "catch on" will depend on whether the software and templates provided are really useful and adaptable to the needs of the user.     I must confess that I have reservations, as well as a personal bias, against someone else deciding how I will present my data. Also, I know just how vulnerable password protected data can be against a persistent and nosey intruder, unless very serious security measures are taken.     However, for many data storage and presentation needs this may be "just the ticket". The natural progression (ridiculous extreme?) of this trend is that your future "desktop computer", say five years from now, may be just a terminal with a monitor, keyboard and mouse (but no hard drive) hooked to a network and using an off-site provider to manipulate and store your data. All for a price, of course. Hmm. Maybe--but then again, maybe not.     A cursory use of search engines did not find such a webtop site dedicated to a word processor but the following lists 12 word processors which can be downloaded and used for free:     http://twocom.com/freeware/ and select Word Processing+ from the menu in the left column.
Number 201 - February 2000