1.21 gigawatts

Future of Desktop: Startforce

Feb 15 - by Anuranga Bandara

The future of desktop is here! Startforce is an ordinary desktop that runs in your web browser; hence we call it a web-desktop. After some initial tests and benchmarks, I was impressed by the performance of this software. It lives up to its claims of being the best web-desktop there is. What makes this unique is that Startforce make the user right at home from the beginning. When you login, all the familiar features such as the start menu, desktop icons and the wallpaper are there.

Say hello to my new OS!

As I was digging down to the software, I found many interesting apps as the makers of Startforce calls it. Startforce runs standard Microsoft apps, your custom Windows apps, SaaS apps, your internal web apps and Startforce Apps– provides the most comprehensive coverage to your application requirements. These apps include Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel. I only tested Word but it was a exact copy of Word that you and I use on everyday basis. The only difference however was its portability. Other than that, it had all the features jam-packed into a one single app. You would think running these apps would take forever, but the performance is one of the best things about Startforce. It uses Java and let you Access your files from any Internet-enabled mobile device including your iPhone or Blackberry. So you can work on your 20 page research project right from the iphone.

WORD!

I only covered few apps but Startforce is packed with multimedia, IM and many other cool apps. Startforce comes equipped with a powerful web-based Outlook-style Email client. If you know how to use Outlook, you will know how to use Startforce Mail. Simply plug in your IMAP settings and you’re ready to go. Send rich HTML emails, attach files from your online storage and open attachments in full-featured Microsoft Office productivity suite. As the saying goes, nothing is perfect; Startforce comes with some minor issues. Sometimes I experience unresponsive behavior and freezing up. But hey, aren’t we all use to (Not Responding) message. Besides, Startforce comes with a built in task-manager.

Some apps running

Startforce currently offers Free basic accounts and Enterprise plan for only $29.95 per month. We recommend that you try the basic plan for free and if you like it then switch. You get 5gb of storage with the free plan which is more than enough and almost all of the Startforce apps.

Try the Live Demo

Enisity Rating: 9/10

Pros:

• Portable
• Microsoft Office Supported
• Instant Messenger
• Build in Mail Client
• Feels right at home for Windows users

Cons:

• Slow if you have a bad connection
• cannot handle high-end multitasking
• freezes up some times