Free Web Operating Systems (WebOS)

Free WebOSes

You are here: thefreecountry.com (main page) > Free Web-based/Online Tools, Applications and Systems > Free Web Operating Systems (WebOS)

Free Web Operating Systems (WebOS)

These free web-based operating systems allow you to do a wide variety of activities that you normally perform on your own desktop or PC, using only a web browser. The exact facilities provided by such web OSes vary from site to site, but a typical list of features include things like the ability to store files, share files with other users, play music and videos, create documents and spreadsheets, send and receive email, chat or use internet messaging, etc.

You might be wondering why anyone would want to use a Web OS, seeing as how they are not real operating systems. After all, you still need an operating system like Windows, Mac OS X or Linux to run your browser in before you can access these so-called WebOSes. In general, the web operating systems are primarily useful if you want to work from multiple computers, and want to store your documents, email, bookmarks and other files in one place where they can be accessed from any computer. They are also useful if you need to share files with others, store backups of your important files online, or regularly use an Internet cafe.

In view of this, there is some overlap between sites that advertise that they are Web Operating Systems and those that call themselves by other names. If your purpose in using them is for writing documents, so you may also want to check my Free Online Office Suites: WordProcessors, Spreadsheets, Presentation page. Those who want to back up their files online may also want to look at the Free Online Backup, Internet Hard Drive for Offsite Backup page. Finally, for additional file sharing facilities, you may also want to explore the Free File Storage Hosting page. The criteria for whether a site is listed on one of those other pages or on this page is sometimes a bit arbitrary, so give the other pages a look as well if you're hunting for such a facility.

Update: From the looks of things, providing free Web OSes does not seem like a viable business model. All the WebOSes previously listed here have closed. As such, the list below is empty. Sorry. I can only list stuff that exists.