March 2nd, 2009
Social Desktop merges the web and desktop
We welcome you today, to the marrying of the Web and the Desktop, in holy matrimony. At the annual Microsoft Research TechFest event, the lid was lifted on a new Software+Services cloud application which would revolutionise how we share, store and send information.
This blend of cloud computing works with Live Mesh and Windows Azure, which my colleague Mary-Jo Foley has been covering in great detail over the last week, by giving every document on your computer a URL which points to its place on the web, without the need for uploading it.
By having such a system in place, a local document can be given a web URL, allowing it to be accessible from anywhere in true cloud computing fashion. As well as the integration with Digg, Windows Live Messenger, Facebook and Twitter, the community spirit comes alive with group collaboration and ease of access.
There is a little more detail on the Channel 10 website:
“Social Desktop runs as a local service that maps the user’s local data into a .NET service bus service, enabling local data to be accessible through firewalls. It also provides a web service view with built-in RSS event streams for any container. New data sources can be mapped into the URL hierarchy, enabling a distributed view to be built.
The preview of this application uses Silverlight web pages while the backend previews and files are stored on the web using Windows Azure. The software application runs on Windows 7 Beta where it takes advantage of the new OS’s file-preview functions.”
Also, from the TechFest 2009 website, offers a glimpse at the new project:
Although this has only been dubbed a proof-of-concept idea, this could significantly change the way we interact with our files, folders, documents and media. The social perspective comes with your own personal page which allows you to share anything from your desktop machine or other devices.
Students, rejoice. This could be the breakthrough we’ve been looking for. Hats off to Microsoft Research on this one; you make me proud.
Zack Whittaker, the youngest in the ZDNet network, is a British student at the University of Kent, Canterbury, where he studies BA (Hons) Criminology and Social Policy. His insight into the next-generation is unique and first-hand, sharing his knowledge of the here and now but more so what's next and how to get there.
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