Linked by Eugenia Loli-Queru on Wed 6th Nov 2002 00:19 UTC
Yeah, I might be just re-inventing the wheel here, who knows? But I had this (original? I doubt it) idea a few months ago and I was meant to write about it for some time now. So, my idea is about creating a new operating system that is like none of the current ones. It would be so different, that porting applications from other "traditional" systems wouldn't be possible. But the gains would be much more important of what we would lose by implementing a brand new new system.
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The only way this could work is if the modules were transparent to the user. In other words, the user doesn't directly deal with modules and need not even know they exist for the most part. The only difference as far as they are concerned is that their computer usage is more document-oriented than application-oriented. Like many people have already mentioned. They would have their document or image, and there would be relevant tools readily available for them to use. They would no longer think in terms of "what program do I need to run", but instead just open the file and have the appropriate tools pop into view.
This certainly doesn't eliminate applications in the absolute sense. It merely changes how they are created and how they are used. Programs like Photoshop would still exist, they would simply be installed as a collection of targeted modules that are loaded on the fly depending on what the user is doing. Adding new modules would be just as transparent. In the same way that applications today are upgraded or patched to fix bugs or add features, modules would also be added or replaced as needed.
This whole idea is still pretty vague, but fascinating to me. It's funny that this news item appeared today on OSNews, as I was just today brainstorming on my own OS project, trying to thing through similar ideas (eliminating applications, making the computer a single unified system, applications acting as plugins to the OS, etc.)