Microsoft’s “Gazelle” project
Google’s Chrome browser and operating system (OS) is getting all the attention but Microsoft has a project of its own that may hint at a future OS that is Web oriented. It is called “Gazelle”. Little information is available but Microsoft Research posted the following:
Once upon a time, Web sites were the online equivalent of data sheets. Now users go to the Web to run business apps, do their banking, buy products, socialize, receive a daily news fix, or play interactive games. Nor are Web pages simple HTML anymore; a page can be composed of dynamic content from third-party ad sites, newsfeeds, or messaging sites.
In addition, the software industry has been moving steadily toward a software-as-a-service paradigm. As a result, the browser has taken on the role of application platform, but the increasing value of what is available through the Internet is driving development of Web applications that push the limits of browser capability. AJAX, postMessage, and other recent innovations to the browser platform empower Web developers to build richer Web applications. But Web applications have yet to achieve the richness and robustness of desktop applications; a misbehaving site, such as an ad, can interfere with other sites being viewed by the user, and today’s Web applications have limited access to local system resources such as Webcams, speakers, and printers.
No wonder then, that Helen J. Wang, senior researcher in the Systems and Networking group at Microsoft Research Redmond, is working on ways to evolve the browser into an operating system that supports an increasingly sophisticated Web environment.
At CNET, Ina Fried writes:
Many people think that the browser is starting to replace the operating system as the center of the personal computer.
Naturally, the view that Windows is on a path to irrelevance is not one generally espoused by Microsoft. That said, at least some inside Redmond’s walls argue that the Web browser needs to start acting more like an operating system.
Wang, who has been at Microsoft since getting her doctorate from University of California at Berkeley in 2001, argues that the Web browser should act as more than just a file clerk that rubber-stamps each request that comes its way. Rather, it should act more like a traffic cop, keeping things moving smoothly and ensuring that the computer’s resources are fairly allocated.
In short, Wang says, the browser needs to act more like Windows does–making sure that different Web applications are protected from one another–even those running within the same site. So Wang and her team came up with a prototype, called Gazelle, that does just that.
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