OnLive Launches Premium 'Desktop Plus' with Flash and PDF-Enabled Web Browser

[babyj]

Onlive is not some fly-by-night company. They've been around for a while now as a streaming video game service. Microsoft does allow volume licensing for use by third parties. It's all legit and legal.

I don't think anyone seriously thinks they're not legit but at the same time, no one can figure out exactly how they are doing what they are doing with regards to both the hardware platform and the software licensing. There is an interesting article on it here, though it raises more questions than it answers;

http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/ga...ization-solution-you_2700_re-looking-for.aspx

Best guess appears to be that Onlive are running dedicated hosts for each instance on a custom blade type system. Or something like that.

 

[ncaissie]

Or you can buy Splashtop for ?$ (I paid $4) and stream your own PC and browser and not worry about who is looking at your documents. And this is just until MS releases Office for iPad. I will likely pick up Pages and Numbers.

----------

Splashtop requires you to have a PC, a PC that's left turned on or that can be turned on remotely, and a fast PC that you wish to expose to the net. (I kill the powerstrip to my desk when I'm not home.) Also, a home network connection may have permanently limited upload bandwidth, used for streaming the desktop, which OnLive's servers do not, especially during off-peak use.

Sounds like an interesting way to run office and IE for people who don't have a copy of Windows (VM or PC).

Not True, I use Splashtop with my PC's and my MacBook Pro.

 

[scoobydoo99]

Let's see..... 60 bucks a year (!) to use Office apps and give up my privacy by allowing anyone access to my documents...

-OR-

30 bucks to buy Apple's productivity software for the iPad and keep my documents locally.

Pretty simple decision.

 

[NorEaster]

"We tried to shoe-horn a desktop OS onto a tablet. It didn't work when we did it, so we're going to have someone else do it for us."
- Some guy at Microsoft, as he swims around in red tape.
"

Do you have any proof that this is what happened? Or is this a great example of your "snarkiness"? You do realize that folks in the corporate world actually do use MS Office and would actually benefit from access to Office apps/files on the iPad, right? (Spare me the comments about using Pages, etc... we all know those apps aren't perfect at handling/maintaining Office formatting).

 

[Mad-B-One]

Cost of Windows...

If I compare the cost of the Windows 7 license to this, it is actually not that expensive. It usually costs about $100 (for Home Premium, others even more). That is 10 months of this service. Considering that Windows 8 is comming in the near future and that I would expect that OnLive would give me the option to upgrade for free, it might not be as overpriced as it seems to be.

Now, that would all be true if I would need it. I sit in front of a PC at work and have one at home. My iPad(s) have a different purpose and $10/month would be a pure waste of money for me. I can see though that this is a viable option to some folks out there. Many things are still flash-based. But you don't even have to go that far: Every other company has some sort of plug-in for a browser to access secure content of the company. If you can't install it - as in a mobile Safari - you cannot access it. With this software, you probably could.

My take on this: I see the purpose and I see that there are people who were waiting for it - but I am not one of them. Best of luck for the ones who are!

 

[*LTD*]

Do you have any proof that this is what happened?

Does it matter? Does it matter whether MS is involved? It's the same misguided thinking.

This isn't about the need for Office. It's about an Office that isn't designed with the device in mind. That's the problem. And we're increasingly seeing that consumers and corporate users alike don't appreciate this sort of careless disregard for the User Experience.

 

[Mad-B-One]

Does it matter? Does it matter whether MS is involved? It's the same misguided thinking.

This isn't about the need for Office. It's about an Office that isn't designed with the device in mind. That's the problem. And we're increasingly seeing that consumers and corporate users alike don't appreciate this sort of careless disregard for the User Experience.

Yea, for all the ones who need MS Office, let's see what the upcoming MS Office Suite for iPad brings. Still not the purpose of this App.

Let's see..... 60 bucks a year (!) to use Office apps and give up my privacy by allowing anyone access to my documents...

-OR-

30 bucks to buy Apple's productivity software for the iPad and keep my documents locally.

Pretty simple decision.

Yea, if it would be THAT simple. This is not an Office Suit - it's a remote desktop you rent. I doubt that they would spy on your files. That would be criminal at the least and probably shut down their business. I like to have a job and I think they do, too. How do you come up with these ideas that they would just access your files?

 

[Exhale]

and the software licensing

Standard Remote Session license, which is managed by one of the Role functions of Windows Server.

 

[nickelt]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

flash support? guys flash is dead

So you have been told by Apple. But flash is the only thing stopping me buying an ipad as most of my time is to watch sports streaming which is 99% flash based. So to say it is dead is complete crap. If this works well, i may buy an ipad over another laptop this year.

 

[digitaltara]

version for OS X would be great

I'd really like to see a version of this for OS X. Yes, I know I can use BootCamp or a virtual machine (which I currently do) for the few Windows-only apps that I need to be able to run. That being said, I'd really rather connect to a virtual system online than to have to deal with a local VM and the hassles of installation, upkeep, upgrading, etc.

 

[babyj]

Standard Remote Session license, which is managed by one of the Role functions of Windows Server.

Except they're not running Windows Server, the desktops are Windows 7, so they're not using Remote Desktop.

Have a read through the article I posted a link to as it covers all of this.

 

[Renzatic]

Does it matter? Does it matter whether MS is involved? It's the same misguided thinking.

This isn't about the need for Office. It's about an Office that isn't designed with the device in mind. That's the problem. And we're increasingly seeing that consumers and corporate users alike don't appreciate this sort of careless disregard for the User Experience.

You're missing the point of what this does. To repeat myself, it isn't "Windows 7, now on your iPad", it's "Windows 7 when you need it". In other words, it's not a replacement, it's a flexibility option. And the more flexibility the iPad has, the better it is for everyone.

You waving your arms around screaming "but it's not touch friendly feng shui" is completely and totally missing the point.

 

[*LTD*]

You're missing the point of what this does. To repeat myself, it isn't "Windows 7, now on your iPad", it's "Windows 7 when you need it".

Which highlights the very problem of Windows 7 on the tablet every time it's fired up.

I like flexibility. But I'd also like my "other" options to not suck. If it's a lousy implementation, I'd rather not have it until someone gets it right. Because that'll be 10-25 minutes I can't get back.

Options that exist in and of themselves notwithstanding their level of refinement, need not exist at all.

GET IT RIGHT out of the gate. Then I'll consider using it, even if just as an option. I'm quite sure I'm not alone in this sentiment.

 

[Eric-PTEK]

I'm on my Microsoft rep every day.

There is zero way this works out to be both legal and profitable at the same point in time because of Microsoft's licensing agreements.

Something is fishy somewhere, everyone I talk to involved with MS licensing agree's but no one at MS is talking.

They answer every question except for this one. If its Windows 7 then VDI licensing is too expensive. If its RDS its still too expensive under SPLA licensing.

From the rumors I hear they are riding the edge of legality with some loop holes but they are going to get closed otherwise MS will have a lot of irritated partners out there, including me.

 

[Renzatic]

Which highlights the very problem of Windows 7 on the tablet every time it's fired up.

I like flexibility. But I'd also like my "other" options to not suck. If it's a lousy implementation, I'd rather not have it until someone gets it right. Because that'll be 10-25 minutes I can't get back.

Options that exist in and of themselves notwithstanding their level of refinement, need not exist at all.

GET IT RIGHT out of the gate. Then I'll consider using it, even if just as an option. I'm quite sure I'm not alone in this sentiment.

Buy a capacitive pen then. You'll be whipping around, hitting those little mouse based UI targets like it's no ones business.

See, this isn't about providing the best touch based experience. It's about getting your software where you need it. There are tons of people out there who want to access, edit, and save their Office documents while on their iPad. Tons of people who might want to use some other Windows specific software on the go. For those people, they have this Onlive dealie.

ust because you can't find a use for it, or it doesn't fit your exacting standards of "can I stab overly large UI elements with my finger to navigate", doesn't mean it's a useless product.

 

[*LTD*]

There are tons of people out there who want to access, edit, and save their Office documents while on their iPad. Tons of people who might want to use some other Windows specific software on the go. For those people, they have this Onlive dealie.

ust because you can't find a use for it, or it doesn't fit your exacting standards of "can I stab overly large UI elements with my finger to navigate", doesn't mean it's a useless product.

This is the problem with the industry. This is why Apple is putting everyone to school. It's this "it's good enough" mentality.

 

[Renzatic]

AHHHHHHHH!

 

[benthewraith]

Options that exist in and of themselves notwithstanding their level of refinement, need not exist at all.

GET IT RIGHT out of the gate. Then I'll consider using it, even if just as an option. I'm quite sure I'm not alone in this sentiment.

Need facilitates demand, regardless of how refined or unrefined that demand is. And nothing is right out of the gate. Ever. The first person out of the gate happens to have an advantage, regardless of whether the product is RIGHT. It's continuing to improve the service and making refinements which keeps the product/service innovative.

 

[BiggAW]

I don't think anyone seriously thinks they're not legit but at the same time, no one can figure out exactly how they are doing what they are doing with regards to both the hardware platform and the software licensing. There is an interesting article on it here, though it raises more questions than it answers;

http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/ga...ization-solution-you_2700_re-looking-for.aspx

Best guess appears to be that Onlive are running dedicated hosts for each instance on a custom blade type system. Or something like that.

They're obviously running a lot of VMWare VM's. It may be blade servers running VMWare, that's pretty irrelevant, but even with Blades, they could be hosting 30+ VMs per blade on average, load balanced out over a whole rack of servers.

 

[scoobydoo99]

I doubt that they would spy on your files. That would be criminal at the least and probably shut down their business. I like to have a job and I think they do, too. How do you come up with these ideas that they would just access your files?

Yeah, and I doubt that Enron would conspire to fix electricity prices or that Goldman Sachs would lie to investors or that AT&T would give government agents access to user data without a court order....oh WAIT, they ALL did all of those things. Once you have stored your data on a remote server under someone else's control you have no idea what could happen. I don't necessarily expect that the provider would spy on my files (although who knows), but I'd be more concerned with warrantless government access. The point is, you've lost control if you give them your files.

----------

So you have been told by Apple. But flash is the only thing stopping me buying an ipad as most of my time is to watch sports streaming which is 99% flash based. So to say it is dead is complete crap. If this works well, i may buy an ipad over another laptop this year.

I suppose another way to put it is:
Adobe has announced that, for mobile devices, FLASH IS DEAD. They no longer will develop Flash for mobile devices since, according to them, Flash is not compatible with "the modern, HTML5 enabled mobile web"

Of course, Microsoft has announced that they have abandoned Flash for mobile devices as well and will not support it in Mango or future OS versions.

So, you have been told by Apple (first), Adobe, AND Microsoft.

 

[SBlue1]

don't need this, but you never know.

 

[Mad-B-One]

Yeah, and I doubt that Enron would conspire to fix electricity prices or that Goldman Sachs would lie to investors or that AT&T would give government agents access to user data without a court order....oh WAIT, they ALL did all of those things. Once you have stored your data on a remote server under someone else's control you have no idea what could happen. I don't necessarily expect that the provider would spy on my files (although who knows), but I'd be more concerned with warrantless government access. The point is, you've lost control if you give them your files.

Interresting comparison. Guilty by comparison: It is a company, it MUST be evil - even if 99% of their business depends on people trusting them that the data is secure. I prefer not to run around with a tin foil over my head. Besides, if a company has that sensitive data, I am sure that they can put a rack into their server park and have a contract modified so that no access is ever given to a third party.

 

[sebastian...]

This is kinda stupid. I can already do this except with Mac OS using the old technology of VNC.

None of you seem to understand. This is not about running flash on the ipad, or windows 7, or Office.
The servers of Onlive can have much more power than your home computer. The Office is only the beginning.
You could run high-end 3d of 2d software powered by 20 core processors.

And no VNC or Splashtop or other solution on the market can compare with Onlive. Onlive is capable of streaming full video screen with 30 frames per second plus high quality stereo sound. With a response speed high enough to play fast action games. And if you have an Onlive server close to you then the lag can be very small.

Even if you have a half a second lag, you still have a video stream of 30 fps.

Too bad the article doesn't explain this well enough.

 

[faroZ06]

None of you seem to understand. This is not about running flash on the ipad, or windows 7, or Office.
The servers of Onlive can have much more power than your home computer. The Office is only the beginning.
You could run high-end 3d of 2d software powered by 20 core processors.

And no VNC or Splashtop or other solution on the market can compare with Onlive. Onlive is capable of streaming full video screen with 30 frames per second plus high quality stereo sound. With a response speed high enough to play fast action games. And if you have an Onlive server close to you then the lag can be very small.

Even if you have a half a second lag, you still have a video stream of 30 fps.

Too bad the article doesn't explain this well enough.

Yes, and that high bitrate is on your 3G, using up your plan. Also, I doubt the video quality could be better than VNC since they are limited by bandwidth. And why would you need high-end software on your iPad?