Protopage launched version 2.0 of its Ajax desktop today. I previously profiled Protopage in August.
There are a number of new and interesting features, which are described in the Protopage blog. It continues to be extremely fast and easy to use.
Protopage was an earlyish entrant into the Ajax desktop market, which is now crowded with products like Netvibes, Google, Microsoft Live and Zoozio. Goowy is also a choice, of course, although they have chosen Flash over Ajax for their platform. Microsoft Live is the only extensible product, with a growing number of third party widgets available for use.
And there is yet another Ajax desktop product entering the market in the next few weeks that also has an open API for third party developers to add functionality. As I mentioned above, this is an extremely crowded market – with uncertain economics.
Looks cool, but I feel that registration is lengthy and painfull and it will be really usefull if they provide keyboard shorcuts for working around.
WOW! I didn’t know stuff like this was possible!
how to show my photoes?
If I need to show somebody real quick what kind of things people are doing with javascript and AJAX these days I show them Protopages first.
I haven’t actually considered using it though… hmm…
Why have a page that dupes what your desktop does easily? ..unless the service extends it across new platforms, there is no upside. DotMac works fine for me for keeping bookmarks, notes, docs, cal appts and emails across multiple computers and away from the SOHO HQ. The UI, while a neat example does nothing for you. Does anyone really care about ‘organizing’ a random service webpage that may or may not be around in 4 months? Use this talent for something that truly ’sticks’….
This is an impressive Ajax technology demo, they do recreate the look and feel of an actual desktop rather well. I don’t see myself using anything like that sometime soon, I can work a lot more efficiently with bloglines and my browser plugins than having a page with a few feeds and a bunch of links.
I like ProtoPage when they were first profiled. I like them a lot better than the others. The others are boring.
For these type of sites, looks matter. I go to a kiosk or at work and pull up ProtoPage with the nice colors and image and onlookers are impressed.
The funny thing about all these companies working on AJAXd up homepage replacements is that I don’t have a homepage. I leave my computer on for weeks at a time, and Safari never gets closed so a homepage is never needed.
Anybody else in this same boat?
Google has my vote since I already have a google account and like the mark of the beast whenever I am logged in to one I am in all without the hassle of logging in again.
On a side note, what’s next? Ajax website viruses? Or google authentication worms/trojans?
Protopage shows what LMS and E-Learning-Plattforms lack of. It has the collaboration tools needed to create virtual classroom collaboration.
Nice, but slow. Netvibes is better.
Having seen a number of personal pages powered by ajax, Protopage is by far the best. It’s quick, easy, customizable and easy on the eye. The team created Protopage are both receptive to user demands and continue to implement change to make Protopage an absolute joy to use.
Very usefull for people who work on diferent computers during day. I move from room to room and having all needed information on the page only I can access is extemly usfull!
I created a forum for people who want to discuss protopage in more detail.
http://protopag...w.com/index.php