One of the upcoming topics that have rapidly gained popularity these days in the area of operating system is a Web or Online Operating System. The implementation of this technology is based on the Internet and distributed computing. The objective of this technology is to deliver the full benefit of the World Wide Web. Online Operating Systems include mechanisms for persistent storage, remote process execution, client management, authentication and security. This paper presents an overview of a typical Online OS. It describes its services provided, the underlying technologies exploited, advantages of using it and some of its practical applications. Additionally, the paper discusses some of the issues and concerns surrounding the implementation and design of an Online OS.
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