A couple pings came across my radar today on the new operating system targeted at netbooks: Jolicloud. Mike Szczys over at HackADay.com offered the most comprehensive once-over of this operating system/browser hybrid, concluding that:

Jolicloud starts with a great OS, Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and couples it with a different way to use existing web applications. We think the developers have done a great job integrating Prism into their interface and find it very usable. Only time will tell if users are willing to migrate from traditional browsing, to using web apps for what they really are: an application.

I am absolutely intrigued by the concept and have requested access to test-drive Jolicloud. But I also completly agree with Szczys’ general observation about web apps as applications. The migration is inevitable, I believe, and Jolicloud gives us a preview of what that might look like.

Techcrunch’s Robin Wauters took a hard look at the Jolicloud system back in June and while Wauters also liked it, he expressed similar concerns about our fellow travelers willingness to adopt such a radical change.

For screenshots, lists of currently included apps and other details check out Jolicloud’s hompage.

Popularity: 4% [?]