Windows on an iPad? That’s what OnLive is promising with its free OnLive Desktop service, available from Thursday in the iTunes App Store in the US, with a UK version to follow.
The company, which has attracted plenty of attention for its cloud-based gaming technology, plans to deliver full Windows 7 applications – including Microsoft Office – to Apple’s tablet.
So how does it work? Well, Microsoft software such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint is hosted remotely on powerful PC servers in the cloud, rather than the iPad, and accessed over the internet.
A full on-screen Windows keyboard and handwriting recognition make it easy to view and edit complex documents. OnLive says rich media, such as video, animation, slide transitions – even PC games – will run fluidly on the iPad, too.
“OnLive Desktop is the first app to deliver a no-compromise, media-rich Windows desktop experience to iPad, opening up powerful new possibilities for consumers and businesses,” said Steve Perlman, OnLive founder and CEO.
“iPad users will now be able to simply and securely view and edit cloud-hosted documents with full-featured Windows desktop applications like Microsoft Office, just as if they were using a local high-performance PC.”
The OnLive Desktop app comes with 2GB of secure cloud storage and access to a cloud-based Windows 7 desktop pre-populated with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, plus several utilities and touch games.
Using instant-response touch gestures such as pinch and zoom, flick to scroll, drag, drop and Aero snap, users can navigate files, open, edit and save the ones they need, and store them securely in the cloud for access from any device through a simple web interface.
PC apps have full desktop functionality: Word documents can be created and edited with full redline and commenting capability, using a full Windows touch-screen keyboard, handwriting recognition or Bluetooth keyboard.
PowerPoint presentations can be created with rich graphics, videos and animated slide transitions, and even presented directly from the iPad, either onscreen or via an external monitor.
Data can be updated and analyzed instantly in Excel, translated into graphs and transferred into presentation documents.
If you don’t have an iPad, don’t worry: Android, smartphone, PC, Mac and monitor/TV support (via the OnLive MicroConsole thin client with Bluetooth keyboard/mouse) is coming soon, with the same OnLive Desktop available by login from any device.
An OnLive Desktop Pro version is also planned, with 50GB of cloud storage, priority access, full-featured cloud-accelerated browsing, additional PC apps, and other OnLive-unique features for $9.99/month (UK pricing TBA).
Source:http://tech.uk.msn.com/features/onlive-brings-full-windows-7-software-to-the-ipad

