I;ve been tracking for a couple of years now the Microsoft Research undertaking called MashupOS, then Gazelle, and most recently ServiceOS.Final summer, Microsoft researchers had been describing ServiceOS like a “multi-principal OS-based browser” designed to provide control of web applications and devices.This year, the description of ServiceOS has evolved. Charon at Ma-Config.com — who tipped me recently to Microsoft Analysis;s Drawbridge library OS initiative, sent me a link to a new abstract explaining ServiceOS that lead researcher Helen Wang posted for the recent TechFest 2011 study fair.(ServiceOS wasn;t one of the TechFest 2011 natural-user-interface-focused projects that Microsoft touted publicly this year. I guess it was featured during the part of the TechFest fair that wasn;t open to selected press and analysts.)The changes in how the Softies are explaining ServiceOS are pretty significant. The new abstract specifies that ServiceOS supports thesoftware-as-a-serive (SaaS) paradigm. Via ServiceOS, a “master copy of a user;s applications resides in the cloud and cached on her end devices,” the new abstract explained.“The ServiceOS venture aims to address many challenges faced by our Windows Phone platform, post Windows 8 platform,
Microsoft Office Professional 2007, the browser platform, and Office platform,” the abstract said.At TechFest 2011, according to the abstract, the researchers demonstrated a MinWin-based ServiceOS prototype. They showed how traditional applications,
Windows 7 Professional Product Key, like Microsoft Word, can run on ServiceOS and how rich Web content,
Office Pro Plus 2010 Key, like a YouTube video, can be embedded “without sacrificing security.”As with all Microsoft Investigation projects,
Office 2010 Standard Key, there is no guarantee as to if or when they will become — in part or in total — incorporated into Microsoft;s commercial product line-up. However, Wang seems to have a pretty solid record,
Purchase Office 2010, in terms of her technology-transfer success rate. I;ll be watching to see how ServiceOS morphs next….