My Fantasy – A new consumer cloud Operating System from Apple and Dell Part 2 – Requirements of the new Cloud OS

In my last post, I outlined my hypothesis that Apple and Dell are the only two companies today who have the potential to remake the entire concept of consumer operating systems and the entire PC industry.

In this post, I will talk about what I think that components are of a new and compelling Cloud OS.

Before I go down that road, it’s important to take a step back and talk a little bit about what a new Cloud OS should bring to the table and why.

I believe that the current operating system (OS) paradigm is stale for the following reasons:

• Today’s form factor for a desktop PC is too bulky
• User profiles are still not portable
• Installing software is still a cumbersome process
• Too many system components need to be updated to run smoothly (drivers, hardware etc)
• Not enough integration with the cloud today
• We still need to install media from DVD’s and CD’s
• Not secure enough

and it goes on and on…

Windows 7 has solved a lot of the problems that Windows XP had but done very little to remake the core inefficiencies in the way we work with computers today.

Ipads and tablets are helping in some regard but the lack of a real keyboard and USB ports are real limitations to that medium as well.

Ultimately, I believe the next really revolutionary cloud OS has to have the following attributes:

• Encourage a smaller form factor for the desktop
• Make user profiles truly portable
• Allow use of software as opposed to installation of software (big difference)
• Make the process of installing drivers/software updates efficient and transparent (not the users concern)
• Take full advantage of cloud efficiencies (storage, processing etc)
• Eliminate the use of media (dvd and cd’s)
• Allow full access and use of any device connected to the cloud (printers etc)
• Be more secure than we are today
• Allow dual booting to thumb/zip drives for a mini local OS if desired

I believe that those are the major attributes necessary to satisfy both business and home users.

Here are the components that I feel are necessary to make this happen:

1. Secure and Reliable Cloud infrastructure (Public and Private)
2. A New Cloud OS/User interface
3. A slim PC
4. Cloud Applications
5. Hardware support

In the next post I will talk a little bit about the Cloud infrastructure on the back end.

Stay tuned…