Best Virtual Computer?

[soyizgood]

I've been looking for a replacement virtual computer since ghost is shutting down on March 15. So far I'm testing out the following:

icloud
eyeos
glideos
airset

For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, it basically turns your browser into a virtual computer. You can upload and download your files, view and/or edit documents/pictures/video, listen to your music, use it to do instant messaging/twitter, some have internet radio clients, some games, and requires nothing extra to be installed on your computer (you generally need to have java and flash installed and have javascript enabled). You can access your virtual computer from anywhere with an internet connection.

• icloud
  icloud has 3 GB for free. It's been around for a while. It's interface resembles Windows 7. You need IE or Firefox to get in, so tough luck Chrome users. Nice-looking interface though it starts up with a few screens you'll want to close. While it looks organized, the iplay music player leaves something to be desired. It can be frustrating when you double-click the song and it instead opens up music from the default playlist sometimes. Just right-click on the tune and select open to avoid that.
  
  
  
  
  
• eyeos
  This has a more simplified interface and is an on-going project. It's not as feature-rich as icloud, but its simplicity makes it relatively easy to use. I expect more features to come along, but for now it's definitely usable and you can upload files without doing any extra hurdles. The only drawback with uploads is you can't upload any files bigger than 12MB, so that might discourage those wanting to backup videos.
  
  
  
  
  

 

[soyizgood]

• glideos
  GlideOS comes with 30GB for a basic account. It doesn't have ads or recurring startup screens that you have with icloud. Your virtual computer can be accessed from some mobile phones. It has the ability to sync with your computers and its tool is available for PC, linux, Mac. Probably want to go this route as its upload tool is rather basic.
  
  
  
  
  
• airset
  Airset is the only one of these four that allow you to copy entire folders. It also has the ability to create slave cloud PCs (one for work, personal, kids, etc.). The only gripe I had was I could not play the music files I uploaded. It required downloading a Windows Media Shim plug-in, so I guess I can't use chrome for that. But even with IE, I couldn't play the tunes. Granted I tried this at work, but I was able to play music with the other virtual computers. I did get it to run on another PC not behind the company firewall. The menus are okay, but not as flexible as cloud or glide. I guess that might be on purpose to reduce support calls. Now if I can pinpoint that media problem, I'd likely use this as my default or at least split my time with it and glideOS.
  
  
  

 

[nadalfan!]

What is a virtual computer?
Nvm, googled it for more info. Looks cool.

 

[mtommer]

I like glideos right now. I don't know how long it's going to be around without ads and 30 gigs of space for free though. They're all fun to play around with though and it's nice to have a central hub for online work/uploads etc.

 

[soyizgood]

I have gripes with glideos.

I tried the sync program on my PC. It's confusing, easy to mess up (cleaning up the mess is an exercise in futility), and you can't move/delete/rename the sync containers. So I uploaded a bunch of photos using the upload folders feature and it dumps it into the general folder. I had some "interesting" photos I uploaded but if I open up my general container, they'll show up in thumbnails even if they were in the saved folders. I have a lot of pages of files to remove, but you can only do it via clicking on the files and using the ctrl button. Using the shift key will highlight the files, but it will only delete one file at a time that way.

The only way I can use the sync tool is if I select a designated folder to do a sync. That works much cleaner. Then point the sync folder to another location if I want glide to copy those folders and files to containers. You can turn off the sync and disable sync for folders previously designated for such.

Glide is not for noobs. Heck it frustrated an IT person like myself. The 30GB free is hard to ignore though. But I'll be spending time cleaning this one up or maybe just create a new account to start from scratch.

 

[soyizgood]

Airset only gives out 1GB free or 5000 files, whichever comes out first. That and limits you to 2GB of bandwidth. Their premium service starts at 5GB for $3/month. You can get 10GB for $5/month.

I'm thinking of going this route even though iCloud is 100GB for $39. Airset's feature of copying folders actually works. The downside is you can't do anything else while it copies those folders. That and I can't play music while behind my company's firewall. Hmmm... $5/month won't kill me (I have to kill off a $5/month subscription anyway) and I can always use icloud or glideos to play my music. Oh the choices...

 

[mtommer]

LOL on the "incriminating" photo story! Yeah, I don't put anything incriminating up.

Yeah I guess the folders issues can be a pain. I guess I've always just chalked it up to new tech, new idea, idiosyncrasies so I'm willing to put up with a few design flaws right now. I guess that's also why I'm only sticking with free options for the time being. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained.", so to speak. *shrug*