﻿ 5 top reasons it might be time for an iOS desktop | ZDNet

5 top reasons it might be time for an iOS desktop

Summary: What do you think? Is it time for an iOS desktop?





My neighbor desperately needs a restrictive and closed OS.







So what would an iOS desktop machine look like?

Next: What an iOS desktop might be like »

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1. Porn free, kiddie safe, and senior safe




2. More productivity



3. Classroom education




4. Libraries and public locations




Zero flexibility and 100% predictability.

5. Apple needs the cash


6. Bonus reason: enterprise security (UPDATE)



It's time



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Topics: Hardware, Apple, iPad, Mobile OS, Mobility, Operating Systems





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  • No.

    Look, just because you don't have two brain cells to rub together when it comes to security Win 7 doesn't make it that hard.

    Install MSE, Run a restricted account and don't give him the admin password. Problem (mostly) solved. For the rest there's group policies.

    Jeez. As if we needed another desktop...

    To anyone who complains, the author specifically *said* he wanted a locked down OS...
    • RE: 5 top reasons it might be time for an iOS desktop

      @ David Gewirtz

      OH LORD
    • Still, a large iOS all-in-one touch screen, quad-core Arm could be cheaper

      by a wide margin than the Windows 7 competition. That could be a huge mass market success that Apple has not had yet in desktops. In any case, iOS is a ton more secure than Windows 7 out of the box with nothing special to do. With Windows 7 security, it is only safe if you know what you are doing.

        @DonnieBoy I agree with you...as long as you don't touch it and do nothing productive iOS is the most secure OS in the world.

        @DonnieBoy Donnie, I haven't thought someone was more deserving of a hug until now.

        Here is YOUR hug. <>

        I think you have completely lost it.
    • Yeah right...

      @wolf_z : last week we had a virus circulating on the office. We all thought that the "trend setter" group with Win 7 virtual machines (yep... no direct access to the hardware) would fare better than our 10-year old Windows XP system.

      What happened? Several XP system didn't even got infected, while all the VMWared sandboxes got infected spreading the virus to the host (also Windows 7 Enterprise), even without having admin rights, which were prohibited by IT.

      So, stop joking about Win 7 "security" and start facing the fact that deep down, Windows 7 is Windows, with tens of thousands of insecure dlls prone to an attack.

      <i>P.S.: All systems were hardened by IT and UAC settings were on high with no possibility of change</i>
      • I don't believe

        @cosuna a word you are saying.


        Well I cannot just base my opinion of your comment of your lack of English comprehension but I can tell with what you wrote you obviously have no clue what you're talking about.

        Windows XP is the Swiss Cheese of security holes although many have been patched it still gets a ton of security updates monthly. Windows 7 may get a couple a month.

        I do IT work for a large corporation and we run XP machines and Win7 Machines. We by default turn off UAC and have some security hardening. We still don't run into those issues. Maybe you work for a 10 person company with an incompetent IT department? Sounds about right.

        @cosuna ... Goes to show ... win7 is just Vista re-heated, which is ... .

      @wolf_z >>Look, just because you don't have two brain cells to rub together when it comes to security Win 7 doesn't make it that hard.<<

      Tee hee

    Maybe hp with webOS will head up in that direction. Or someone may build an android 3 iso for desktop, customized for mouse use instead of touch. But i don't think that apple will ever do that. Or it will, but it will cost you 2000$ or something close.

      @d.marcu Stop it with the expensive crap. WHile Apple doesn't support the low end market their prices are in line with Dells and HPs with the same specs and in the tablet market.. they've actually beaten the competition with prices. Stop the FUD please!

        @Tablazines, true but what if you can't afford a top line product? hp, dell etc have products for those who live in countries where you don't earn the same amount of money as those in more developed countries. Here the cheapest mac costs 1800$ (24%VAT + import fees + retail stores interest etc), an ipad 1000$, iphone 1000$ while a salary average is 300 - 350$. And i can assemble a pc with the same configuration of a mac for 300$
    • touch screen monitor... don't even need to redesign everything.


      A keyboard, and a touchscreen monitor, pre-installed and preferably pre-calibrated. Just need to have it put together such that it won't be rooted by some script/program.
    • I think we will see very cheap very large all-in-one touch screen desktops

      with screaming quad-core Arm chips. I see ChromeOS taking the lead here with native client providing super fast native applications for things like video editing. But, would love to see HP push WebOS as well.
  • Windows 8.

    Hopefully Windows 8 will be what your friend needs. If Windows 8 does in fact come with a touch interface, touch oriented apps, an app store, etc., you will have desktops with touch screens of various sizes, which pivot between 0 and 90 degrees, and look something like <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b8sHd5BKRs&feature=related>this</a>. (Also see <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_53dvndkcrY>here</a>.)
    P. Douglas

      @P. Douglas
      and we might just see it in about 3 years. Phew. Hope it's worth the wait.
      • My thoughts exactly. Time waits for nobody. The time frame for Windows 8 is

        just way too far into the future. By the time it comes out, Apple will have released two more versions of iPad, and Google will have released a few more versions of both Android and ChromeOS. Oh, and lets not forget about HP working on WebOS.

      @P. Douglas Kinect technology might work better than touch for a desktop. They need to work out pinching gesture instead of that hovering though. Kinect is definately capable of emulating that experience without the fingerprints or reaching.
    • Just like courier...

      ...this are just Silverlight for (Windows) Embedded facades/demos.

      Up until know, these had no IDE, no API nor any SDK. Today (with WP7), what Microsoft has created is SL4WE "launchpad" which executes third party applications using a Silverlight 4.0 plugin or and XNA plugin. Since this architecture is built as a plugin there's no native API now nor never, and "apps" (which are really content for SL4.0) can't access the launchpad in any way.

      With that said, Windows 8, might be even more restrictive than iOS, so I don't see it as a candidate for any future development, aside from "fancy" initial work (just as Silverlight on the Web).