Frequently Asked Questions
General
- How can I contact you?
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You can contact us using email. More detailed information can be found on the Xcerion website.
pr@xcerion.com for press related enquiries.
beta@xcerion.com for bug reports, translations related issues and other support related questions.
legal@xcerion.com for content and copyright related issues.
- Why is icloud slow on my computer?
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There are several reasons why you may experiecing icloud as slow, please see the list below:
- Do you have a Skype plugin installed?
- Disable auto-scanning of javascript (script scanning) in your Antivirus application if you have this enabled:
- McAfee: Go to "Home" > "Protection Status" > "Computer & Files" > "Configure" > "Script Scanning Protection" > Select "off")
- Make sure that your browser cache is enabled
- How can I try icloud?
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First make sure you've signed up for an account here. Then open http://os.icloud.com in your web browser. It's as easy as that. When you're done, close your browser and icloud and all traces of your activities will be gone.
- I forgot my password/username (reset password)
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To reset/recover your username/password go to this URL:
- How do I delete my account?
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Deleting your account means that you will lose access to your files, applications and preferences using icloud.com and services such as webdav.
Please download any files that you wish to keep before proceeding with deleting your account!
To delete your icloud account, go to this URL:
- How do I uninstall icloud?
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icloud is never installed on your computer. Just close down your browser and icloud is gone.
- What happens to icloud if the Internet Access goes down?
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icloud applications are not very sensitive to the reliability of the Internet connection since they are executed locally in the client, meaning, that once an application has been downloaded it needs Internet when saving user documents in the data center.
However, if no Internet connection is available when attempting to save or perform changes to a document, icloud will simply store all changes in a transaction buffer that will be sent and synchronized to the data center once an Internet connection has been re-established.
This offline and synchronization capability truly sets icloud apart from all other attempts of creating an operating system on the Internet.
- What about bandwidth requirement to use icloud?
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If applications are built according to our best practice guidelines, they will work on as little as 56kbps modem line. This is possible because:
- Applications started on the OS only consists of a few kilobytes of XML
- Data changes, yielding transaction packages between client and data centers consist of XML-fragments that are minimal in size and frequency.
- icloud applications are executed inside the browser effectively rendering most server roundtrips obsolete
Basically, the bandwidth of a user's Internet connection will only affect the time it takes to start icloud (done only once per user session) and to download applications and content.
- What about your applications “Look and Feel”?
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icloud applications launched on icloud will look, feel and behave like traditional desktop applications, including drag and drop, windows, context menus etc.
- What about user experience?
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icloud uses the local processor on the computer which you are using for the moment, minimizing the number of server requests delivering fast software.
The look and feel is essentially the same as a traditional desktop OSs. Many applications in icloud actually look better than applications developed using traditional technologies.
- What kind of software is available?
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Currently there is a suite of productivity applications, such as Presentation, Email and Calendar. There is however also consumer software such as Instant Messenger, Games, Photos, iPlay (Music) and Movie.
- Is icloud similar to Linux?
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No. icloud is a lightweight in-browser operating system, with emphasis on migrating software from the desktop to the Internet. Linux is a traditional operating system used to start the computer commonly used for large servers.
- What about security? Where are my files stored, back-up, virus etc?
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All your documents are stored in our secure data centers. Naturally full privacy and daily back-ups will be offered for the virtual file system. Furthermore, icloud applications are initiated from our data centers and executed on an XML Virtual Machine within the sandbox of the web browser. This makes it very hard for anyone to use this service to distribute viruses since everything is XML within a closed sandboxed environment without any direct access to your computer.
- Can I use widgets and Flash applications in icloud?
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Basically any technology that runs within a browser will also run on icloud. This includes Flash, Shockwave, video, music, Java applets, JavaScript code snippets etc.
Many widgets used on blogs and in social networks will also be possible to use from within icloud.
- I can't find what I'm looking for here. What should I do?
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Feel free to email your comments or questions to support{at}icloud.com. If you’re a member of the press and would like to contact us, please email us at pr{at}xcerion.com
Technical
- What is the difference between icloud and XIOS?
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icloud is a service based on the Xcerion Internet Operating System /3 (XIOS/3). XIOS is the technical solution behind the service.
- What does XIOS offer?
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XIOS is based on a holistic approach to software design, development and deployment that provides:
- Rapid development tools (using XML)
- Free deployment of software
- Visual Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
- XML Virtual Machine for running software directly on clients processors
- Transaction management
- Versioning of documents
- Virtual File System
- Community support and support for building new communities
- Scalability to millions of users
- Payment engine with integration to advertisement
- Offline capability
- An integrated application exchange and marketplace for software
End users get most software for free, ads based. Developers will get 90% of all revenue from ads and subscriptions.
- Why do you use Ubuntu Linux?
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We use Ubuntu Linux in our data centers because it's the most modern and reliable distribution of Linux. Furthermore, our vision of free software is perfectly aligned with Linux.
- What about reliability?
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XIOS also runs offline, without a network connection or with a weak connection, as long as it was booted while the network connection was up. This is probably one of the first times a web application may continue to operate in an offline mode. The code is not running on Internet servers, it is executing within the OS on the local client and only started through the servers.
The OS also includes a transaction manager, keeping track of all data changed produced by the applications on the OS. This makes XIOS stand out as a class of its own compared to other Internet services when it comes to reliability and stability.
- How is XIOS different from other software that enables applications to run offline?
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Many web applications need to install some sort of executable in order to work offline. XIOS on the other hand, achieves this without having to install any plug-ins, i.e. zero footprint. In addition to this, XIOS offers the additional benefits of transaction management and collaboration.
- What kind of software will be available?
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XIOS enables virtually any type of application to migrate from the desktop to the browser. This migration will create an application "subspace" on the Internet, dramatically improving data interoperability and integration. We envision software such as Office with: Presentation, Email/Calendar, Database, Document and Calculation, Consumer software such as Instant Messaging (Chat), Social Networks, Games, Expense Reporting, ERP and much more.
This means that software developed by others may be integrated and customized into new suits by management consultants, software architects, hobbyists, developers or IT departments.
- How does XIOS compare to other Webtops and/or WebOS?
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XIOS is not a Webtop or WebOS, it is not the same kind of technology. We call it an Internet OS since it is more comparable to traditional operating systems, but using the browser as its rendering engine for the user interface.
It also includes a XML Virtual Machine, executing applications locally on your computer, not in our data centers. This makes XIOS applications continue to work offline and also become much more responsive than most web applications. A typical WebOS executes most of its program logic in its data center.
It is like having all the benefits of web technologies; easy distribution, always the latest version and no installation, but all the benefits of the traditional desktop paradigm like responsiveness and user experience.
XIOS scales to millions of users, most WebOS out there will not be able to handle that load, since they need to handle the load in their data centers.
Applications in XIOS are 100% in XML and are executed directly on the client without any server round trips (except for storage). XIOS is the only OS driven completely by XML applications. Using XML makes applications very small and lightweight.
- What exactly is an XML Internet OS?
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There is a lot of discussion going on as a response to some of the articles written about Xcerion regarding the classification of XIOS as an XML Internet OS.
XIOS enables you to run software within your browser much in the same way as you do in Microsoft Windows or Mac OS. The obvious difference being that now you can access all your applications and documents from any computer without having to copy them to an USB-memory stick or mail them to yourself. Furthermore, since XIOS, and all applications built upon it run in a browser window, this platform promises to take user collaboration to a whole new level.
Imagine being able to set up and edit workgroups on the fly, being able to see your peer’s calendar and documents, or being able to work in the same document or presentation file simultaneously with solid version handling and data change management.
Xcerion's XIOS is not just another application framework for developing Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). It's a holistic approach, encompassing such diverse activities as application design, development, deployment and exchange. Its XML-driven architecture and XML Virtual Machine includes many features that clearly set it apart from the roster of Internet services. Features including transaction management, offline mode capabilities, integrated visual IDE, process management, and plug 'n play style interaction with underlying data sources.
Xcerion believes that the term “XML Internet OS” was the best description of the service and underlying technology. It is the first operating system to truly be driven only by XML (Extensible Markup Language)
- Why call it an OS? Isn't XIOS just another application development framework?
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What we wanted to do was to improve the layers of an OS that sits on top of the lowest core. The part of an OS where the most end user value is achieved. Today, traditional operating systems are becoming increasingly commoditized. We wanted to contribute to that trend by also moving the programming APIs to the Internet cloud.
We envisioned zero-installation and chose to use the browser as the UI rendering engine. XIOS consists of many of the parts that make up a traditional desktop OS. We decided to put our R&D resources on the parts of an OS that really matters the most to its users.
This includes multiple application instance handling, process handling, file system, version control, collaboration and programming APIs for easy and uniform application development. A traditional framework is mainly focused on making development of a single application easier.
XIOS's integrated IDE provides never-seen-before rapid development and deployment. However, Xcerion's XIOS platform offers more than just a web application development framework. It offers transaction management, scalability, offline capability, integrated application exchange, complete file system management, community support, and advanced user group and collaboration management.
Although traditional OSs don't provide the full range of this functionality, the commonalities are such that Xcerion decided to label its service as a XML Internet OS.
- Your goal is to develop a wealth of icloud applications and offer them for free within the next 3 years, how is this possible?
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Our goal is not to reproduce all the functionality of current software – our aim is software for the masses and they often only need 40-50% of the functionality of today’s software. The massive amount of applications that will be delivered is possible due to Xcerions unique technology platform and its underlying operating system. The OS enables us and our partners to develop applications that are visually orchestrated without any programming. This makes it possible for applications to be developed in weeks instead of years and become scalable to millions of users.”
- What is your value proposition to the end user and to software developers?
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We want to provide an "alternative for consumers and small businesses world-wide seeking a simpler, cheaper and more effective solution to everyday computing." Our value proposition is to launch an XML Internet OS with real collaborative software accessible from any computer for free to all end users. We want to create a unique community economy suitable for long tail software business and developers wishing to monetize their applications.
- How do XIOS applications relate to the MVC pattern (Model View Controller pattern)?
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We have invented a new way of developing applications according to the MVC (Model View Controller) design pattern using XML. The view consists of XML describing the user interface, the Model is the XML data document behind the application (for instance stored in the Virtual XML repository) and the Controller is the application logic, described as an XML process.
XIOS application development is called Desktop Application Orchestration (DAO). When developing a XIOS application, visual components as well as application logic can be visually programmed using drag-and-drop. DAO focuses on user experience, data integration, and authoring of data. We believe that orchestration of desktop applications is the next logical step for the software industry, just as SOA has become the standard for enterprise application integration.
- How can XIOS applications be competitive to traditional desktop applications that are deployed with for instance Flex, WPF, and built on established client server protocols (e.g. WS.*, JSON, XML)?
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XIOS uses technologies such as WS.*, XML and JSON extensively. XIOS also enables applications to be developed extremely rapidly using visual orchestration in the graphical IDE (XIDE/3), or editing XML files directly. Since XIOS is built using AJAX technologies, it’s superior to Flash or WPF based applications in regards to extensibility by third party developers or integration with existing code libraries. Another major difference is that technologies like Flash RIAs and WPF are mainly designed for enterprise Intranets, with user bases typically in the thousands. Such applications lack the scalability of XIOS that can support millions of concurrent users.
- Is XIOS an abstraction layer in the browser?
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Yes, XIOS is an abstraction layer. It provides an efficient environment and APIs for developers and creates a cohesive environment for running applications. It enables users to develop applications more rapidly without programming, and to distribute these applications to end-users on any platform, be it Windows, Linux or Mac. Xcerion chose to develop XIOS using traditional OS methodologies since browsers are the most commonly installed software on desktop computers, hence no installation is required to run XIOS. For XIOS, the browser functions as the graphical rendering engine for the OS.
- Is Xcerion Reinventing Java all over, or?
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The Xcerion OS is actually an XML OS, applications are written and run in XML. To develop these applications you do not need to program, they are described in a higher meta-level, making it much faster and easier to develop desktop applications compared to traditional languages. Java and .NET is still great for back-end server code, like implementing XML Web Services. Remember XML is often the preferred way both for Java and .NET developers, compare with XAML for WPF. To achieve great results using Java you need to be a programmer, using Xcerion OS, you simply don’t.
- Are you using Google APIs to deliver your software?
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Xcerion is only using technology developed at Xcerion. Third party solutions and XML Web Services may however be integrated and reused by application developers in the context of XIOS.
- What about Internet latency?
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XIOS applications are not running over the network, they are executing locally using the XML Virtual Machine. They are thereby not sensitive to network latency. As soon as the application has started it may even be disconnected from the Internet and run in an offline mode.
- Can I run a traditional server web application on XIOS?
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Traditional server web applications (developed using any web technology like Java, PHP, Perl, Python, .NET or Ruby on rails) can still be used on XIOS and functionality of a server web application may be enhanced by XIOS and moved piece by piece into becoming a XML applications capable of running offline.
These applications are wrapped in a XIOS application window and called using an inline browser frame. Visual elements and components from XIOS can be placed around the application and allowed to interact with it.
- Why not just use network installation of Office and store documents on a central file server?
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This is not really a comparable option. Even though your files might be stored on a file server, access to them will most likely be limited to within your Intranet. On the contrary, documents created in XIOS will be accessible from any computer in the world. In addition, other Office software does not offer out-of-the-box collaboration features.
Using the network installed version, the performance is also negatively affected and the XIOS application will be much more responsive and provide integration and collaboration with so much more than just an office package.
