‘Webtop’ Services for the Computer Commuter
First came the desktop, now comes the “Webtop.”
The last few years have seen a steady migration of PC applications from desktop programs that are stored on your computer’s hard drive to free tools that require nothing more than a Web browser to use.
Web-based e-mail services, such as Hotmail (https://www.hotmail.com) or Yahoo Mail (https://www.yahoo.com), and Web calendars, including When.com (https://www.when.com) and Schedule-Online (https://www.scheduleonline.com), have become all the rage recently. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out a way to integrate all these disparate tasks into a single package for the traditional Web price--free.
Visto Corp. of Mountain View, Calif., (https://www.visto.com) and Magically Inc. of Woodside, Calif., (https://www.magicaldesk.com) are spearheading the move toward the integrated Webtop with free e-mail, file storage, calendar, daily planner and browser bookmarks.
On the surface, these applications, like most of those on the Web that rely on the browser interface, seem clunky and slow. None of them are as good as a desktop program.
But scratch a bit beneath the surface and the true power of these tools begins to emerge. What distinguishes both Visto Briefcase and MagicalDesk is not just the integration of several functions but the ability to synchronize files between many computers and to selectively share files so that a group of people can work together.
The purpose of these tools, both of which work only on computers using Windows 95, 98 or NT, is not to replace desktop programs but to provide a kind of centralized home base of information and programs that can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet.
In some ways, the Webtops are a return to the idea of the mainframe computer as the central repository of information, with everyone connecting through dumb terminals spread across a network. Corporate networks already have programs that have synchronization and collaboration features.
But the advantage to the new Webtop services is that they use the Internet and are free. Visto has actually been offering this service to businesses since 1997, but it stopped charging a fee just this month.
The Webtops are geared toward the fast-growing group of people who use many computers scattered at different locations.
For example, MagicalDesk has been used in some schools in Hong Kong as a kind of virtual desktop, allowing several students to share a single computer. At school, students can log on to MagicalDesk and work on their own personal files. When they go home, they grab the files again and continue their work on their home computers.
One of the most advanced features of Visto and MagicalDesk is their ability to synchronize files among several computers. That may seem like a small function, but it is a necessity for mobile workers who have different computers for home, work and travel.
I have a computer at work and several at home, including a laptop. One of my biggest headaches has been trying to keep bookmarks, research files, expense reports, phone lists and address books the same on all the computers.
I add little pieces to those files every day, so by the end of a week I’ve got new bits of data strewn everywhere. None of the lists on my computers is ever the same.
To solve the problem, I keep a central set of files stored on Visto’s Web site. Twice a day, all my computers automatically check the Web site and exchange information. If my computers have new addresses or phone numbers, they add those to the central files on Visto, and those are then distributed to the other computers.
No matter where I go, I can always retrieve the central files of addresses, phone numbers, bookmarks or calendar items.
All this synchronization takes a little planning to make sure you do not overwrite information that another computer has sent to Visto. But the system is relatively simple and is far easier than the old method of transferring addresses and phone lists with a floppy or e-mailing the files to yourself.
Visto Briefcase and MagicalDesk can also synchronize address and calendar information with such popular personal information managers as Lotus Organizer and Microsoft Outlook.
One of the interesting features of both services is that you can share some of these files with other people who are also using the service. You simply designate which files can be shared and with whom.
You can use the share function to collaborate on a document, create a joint family calendar or simply post your schedule for the day so that everyone knows where you are.
Visto gives its users 15 megabytes of free storage space; an extra 15 megabytes costs $25 a year. MagicalDesk provides 5 megabytes free and charges $5 a month for an extra 20 megabytes.
For all their promise, there are still some maddening aspects of these services. For example, I had problems getting MagicalDesk’s synchronizing program to work, and parts of its interface are just plain confusing.
Neither Visto nor MagicalDesk will easily synchronize addresses from Outlook Express, which is a major omission to me since I use Outlook Express, the free e-mail and news reader that comes with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
Visto Briefcase, which started in 1997 as a fee service for businesses, is the more polished of the two Webtops, and its 15 megabytes of storage space make it the better choice now.
But as N. Rao Machiraju, the chief technology officer of MagicalDesk, said: “It just takes a little while for things to evolve. In 60 days you’ll see a product that is completely different. Things are moving fast in this field.”
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Times staff writer Ashley Dunn can be reached by e-mail at ashley.dunn@latimes.com.
