Ajax13, a company headed by former MP3.com founder Michael Robertson, has announced a new and very interesting AJAX tool called ajaxWindows, a full virtual PC that mirrors the look and feel of the user's home or work desktop through Internet enabled devices, including PCs, handhelds and PDAs. Although it is still an incomplete solution for users who want to take their desktop with them without carrying any hardware, the idea behind the Web OS is very interesting to say the least.
Accessible through Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers, this web-based OS looks and feels just like your own desktop, with a start button, a task bar, a desktop, programs, widgets, and a file browser. But there is more to it that just its PC-like interface. AjaxWindows doubles as a backup tool allowing you to sync data such as documents, bookmarks, and even music from your desktop computer using Gmail's free storage.
What's more, ajaxWindows serves as a repository for other AJAX applications, both from Ajax13 and other popular software vendors:
Consumers can view, edit and print documents from Microsoft Office and numerous other applications, utilize all popular chat services, listen to their music, and make VoIP telephone calls through the award-winning Gizmo Project. The service also includes the full array of Google-based applications and services.
If you want to avoid lugging your computer around, ajaxWindows is a pretty decent free tool to access your stuff remotely from a single place. That said, I doubt it will beat the convenience of carrying your USB drive loaded with your documents and suite of portable applications - at least not yet.