[Nottingham] Oh to float on a Cloud! (Scary?!)

[Camilo Mesias]

It's most likely a thin client architecture judging from the specs on
the web: hardware requirement 128 MB RAM pretty much rules out
virtualisation.

> not knowing much about the OS in question, or how it boots, does anyone
> know if it launches xp in a vm process? Or is it a coldboot through grub
> or whatever?

In the long term, cloud computing probably is the future of personal
computing, it seems more sustainable than tech-naive people replacing
their Windows PC after 18 months when they start to get sluggish, or
getting a new 'free' laptop with a cellphone type contract.

It's still a way off yet though, and I think it will take some time to
sort out the issues like privacy, authentication, fees for storing
data / accessing apps, jurisdiction (what country is my data stored in
and according to what laws?), and most immediately the cost and
performance of wireless access. I imagine running vnc or the
equivalent, on a 128Mb netbook via a cellphone modem to use a remote
windows desktop would be a pretty miserable experience.

-Cam