Web desktops may be the next step. As much as people are joking about running Javascript on metal, the idea of running a universally accepted virtual machine (WebAssembly?) and building a high level language and operating system on top of it seems to have some merit. See also
the idea of a web desktop doesn't make sense when we have services like google docs and dropbox that perform the roles of the desktop without the overhead of installing software. The desktop was a forced requirement while content had to be centralised on your PC, why bother with it now that we're freed from that constraint?
> The desktop was a forced requirement while content had to be centralised on your PC, why bother with it now that we're freed from that constraint?
Because some of us want content to be centralized on our PCs. We want to own our data, instead of giving it away and then renting back access to it. Related, I consider the push towards abstracting away the file system to be a very bad thing.
I agree with you completely, especially given all the revelations that have come out about dragnet surveillance, but the OP was talking about web desktops specifically.