OStatic

In November, I wrote about Ulteo's Open Virtual Desktop, an open source desktop delivery utility. Simply described, the Ulteo Open Virtual Desktop (OVD) is a browser-based operating system and applications suite that is controlled and configured, ideally, by your organization's systems administrators. This makes managing, working, and collaborating from remote locations possible so long as there is a computer nearby with a Java-enabled browser and internet connection.

This week, Ulteo announced some major updates to its OVD, including the ability to deliver Linux and Windows applications (or a mix of both), Active Directory and LDAP authentication capabilities, several file server options, and collaboration support.

One of the big debates going on in December among the open source cognoscenti is whether fee-based models are going to start to proliferate. This post contends that 2009 will see a lot more business models built around formerly free software, and this post? points to support among CTOs for charging for open source software. I tend to agree that we'll see more of this, but charging for what was formerly free has to be handled deftly. Here are some important points about monetization models.

From my perspective, one of the best developments in technology during 2008 was the proliferation of new portability options for useful software applications. This was driven by the push toward cloud computing, netbooks (which typically don't store a lot of local resources but do a good job of reaching out to online applications), the availability of low-cost, high-capacity USB thumb drives, and more. We've written about the new version 3.0 of the open source OpenOffice suite of productivity applications, which has been available for a while. If you'd like to be able to use these applications without necessarily having them loaded on your portable computer wherever you are, here are two good options.

Ulteo is an interesting company. Started by former MandrakeSoft developer Gael Duval, the company aims to make using your computer easier, regardless of whether you're using your computer. The company focuses on the development and delivery of open source web applications and storage.

They offer applications such as the Virtual Desktop Beta, which runs a Linux environment over a Windows installation, allowing users to switch easily between the two, the Ulteo Online Desktop, which allows users access to a remote desktop and applications such as OpenOffice 3, and its full distribution the Ulteo Application System. Having used a few of these products, some are hits (the Windows Virtual Desktop is really sleek) and others (the Application System) still need significant work.

Today Ulteo announced another application, the Open Virtual Desktop.