SOFTWARE
It was hard to believe - here was a Web-based virtual desktop at least as good as my desktop. And once I'd used Sun's i-Planet enterprise software long enough, going back to my own apps was frustrating.
It works like this: After logging on through the i-Planet Web site, the software can mirror your personal desktop on the local computer's screen. You choose from several methods. The most straightforward is to download your files via the secure connection, then edit, upload, or print using the local computer, just as if you'd brought your files on a floppy. Or you can fire up Sun's Java-based email, spreadsheet, and other online apps. They aren't as snazzy as, say, Eudora Pro or Outlook 2000, but they're better and faster than the current crop of Web-based offerings.
My favorite mode is turning whatever machine I'm on into a network computer - as envisioned by Oracle circa 1997 - by opening remote Windows sessions from my company's i-Planet server. No need to wait for downloads or worry about what files I might be leaving on a cybercafe hard drive. And, amazingly, Windows apps run faster over i-Planet than on my desktop computer. Sun engineers credit their network architecture, in which you download compressed screens instead of entire files. Editing a PowerPoint presentation over a hundred miles of T1 is faster and less jumpy than using the Office suite on my own box, even with the occasional network stall. Same for downloading and answering email, and for editing my notes for this review.
Before you go rushing to download it, though, be warned: i-Planet is a pricey server-side solution for your company, not a consumer product. If you convince your employer to set it up, you'll be free to conjure your desktop from almost any connected computer in the world. But while i-Planet seems an ideal solution for corporate extranets, there are two significant barriers keeping individuals from adopting it. First is the steep price - it doesn't become cost-effective until you buy 1,000 licenses. Second is the widespread and justifiable fear of centralized computing. Sun's best hope is that mainstream ISPs and portals will license i-Planet for their huge audiences, offering it as a better alternative to free Web-based email, calendaring, file storage, and other clumsy browser-based interfaces that consumers will use as long as they're free. For anyone who's fumbled and fumed with Hotmail and My Excite, i-Planet could be a solution worth paying for.
i-Planet: pricing based on number of users ($9,995 for 100 users, $49,995 for 1,000 users, et cetera). Sun: +1 (650) 960 1300, www.sun.com/iplanet.
STREET CRED
Celebrating Edifice
Pop-Up Pix
Original Quirk
CEOs Get Wise
Your Assistant's Assistant
Dilbert Killer
Internet on Line One
ReadMe
Music
Power Slide
Say Anything - Anywhere
Food From Thought
Unsung Heroes
Just Outta Beta
Saving Private Ivan
True Dial-Tone Computing
Contributors
