Windows4all is one of the coolest websites I’ve ever seen. I’m serious. Based on Microsoft Silverlight, this site enables you to visualize an exact copy of the Windows Vista desktop environment right from your browser, without any additional installations. It comes with a similar interface as Vista like having a Windows Start Menu, TaskBar and sidebar gadgets (clock, calendar, and sticky notes). Users are able to launch some of Vista’s default applications such as Internet Explorer, Media Player, Notepad and Paint by simply clicking on the icons on the desktop.
Fire up Internet Explorer and you’re able to surf the web by either heading to Google.com or punching in the URL directly into the address bar. Although it’s far from the original Microsoft Internet Explorer in terms of add-ons and features, but at least it’s decent enough to visit websites or stream videos on YouTube.
If you would like to listen to Michael Jackson’s pop songs, you’re able to so on its Media Player. Double click the icon and select the song from your machine. Adjust the volume on your speakers and you’re good to go. Would like to sketch a picture of a dog? Use Paint. You can choose up to 10 different colors and click on your mouse to draw a picture of your Golden Retriever. Other basic features it offers are stroke thickness and stroke opacity. Unfortunately, there isn’t any undo button to revert back to the previous revision if I were to make a careless mistake.
No Microsoft Word but there is a Rich Text editor, which is similar to a WYSIWYG editor. This application acts like a word processor that allows users to format text and paragraphs. For example, bold, italic, underline, block quote and strikethrough. Changing to a different font or color is also possible. What’s more is that you can save your temporary temporarily. Just like in any desktop operating system, you may install new apps.
Other applications offered by Windows4all include File Explorer, RSS Reader, Chat, Calculator and even games like Solitaire, Spider and Solitaire.
Currently, Windows4all is in alpha version and the main objective of this impressive Silverlight application is to give users a familiar work interface that looks the same whether you’re working at your home computer, or remotely from a borrowed or public computer. The site runs in Silverlight’s security sandbox.