On Cloud computing. Or is that G.ho.st computing?

2009 is definitely shaping up to be the year that cloud computing really makes its debut. Sure the buzzword has been floating around for the past year or two, and some companies have already developed services in the “cloud”. Online file sharing, photo hosting, documents, storage, you name it. However, it wasn’t until yesterday that I came across a site that really brings it all together under one roof. G.ho.st virtual computer gives you the basic functions of a desktop all in the virtual confines of the internet.

The basics are this: Head to http://g.ho.st/and sign up for a free account. No software installation needed. Upon logging into your account, the ghost client will launch within your browser. You browser essentially becomes a second “virtual” desktop for you to perform basic tasks like email, web browsing, file sharing, etc.

Now I know some of you are thinking “Is this guy mad? I can do all this stuff with my own desktop! Why in the world would I need a desktop within a desktop?” Ask no further! See although it may not seem useful for home use, imagine being able to log into the same desktop and have access to your files from anywhere in the world, without having to bring anything with you. At school, work, home, on vacation in Siberia, as long as you have access to the internet, you can log into your G.ho.st desktop and continue working where you left off. No need to bring work or schoolwork home! Save it to your g.ho.st drive, and log in later to be productive in the comfort of your own home. No more lugging around laptops and USB drives. The possibilities are endless! Ok maybe not endless, but for a simple guy like myself, I was impressed.

Anyways, the G.ho.st virtual desktop is composed mostly of Flash, allowing excellent user interaction with the desktop environment. One drawback is if you are on a slower PC, the demands of Flash may make it a bit slow for your liking. I tested on a 1.5Ghz CPU/1 GB RAM and there was a noticable hit in performance. Yet the features offered are quite impressive.

With the offer of 15GB of online storage (and an extra 10GBfor entering the promotion code “launch”) who can resist? G.ho.st has teamed up with many partners offering cloud services and has implemented applications like Google Documents, Zoho, and Flickr into the desktop. Some of these services offer the capability to link your current account to your G.ho.st desktop, giving you access to your favorite online services all within your own virtual space! How convenient! Now if only I could get it to pay my bills for me…….