I have been very impressed by the progress of web browsers. However, they simply don't replace an operating system until they start acting like the keepers of an entire ecosystem of applications. Browsers are still way too careless.
For example, why should a modern browser allow me to immediately close a window with a web app running (the equivalent of an OS' "shut down without warning")?
Why do browsers even show a page's "reset" buttons (also known as "destroy everything with no Undo")?
And the Browser Operating System can still do the equivalent of "kernel panic" by taking out 14 windows (which aren't really windows, but web applications) when it dies.
The closest I've come to "nice" is OmniWeb on my Mac, where they have excellent per-site preferences. This at least gives me some control over each web application, as if the browser were an OS. It isn't enough, but it's a good start.
> why should a modern browser allow me to immediately close a window
> Why do browsers even show a page's "reset" buttons
Because it's better this way. The needs of users trump the needs of webapp developers. A browser that won't let me close a window, or refresh a poorly loaded page? No thanks.
I didn't say it wouldn't close the window, only that this wouldn't be immediate. For example, it could confirm before throwing away the entire state of a web application.
I wasn't referring to the ability to refresh a page, I was referring to the reset button of a form. That button destroys all the data the user entered, which is similar to an unwanted close.
One things operating systems do that I wish browsers would emulate is per-process memory management. Even with the excellent work on memory management in Firefox 3, long-running javascript apps can fragment the browser's heap such that memory can't be reclaimed after the page (but not the browser) is closed.
For example, why should a modern browser allow me to immediately close a window with a web app running (the equivalent of an OS' "shut down without warning")?
Why do browsers even show a page's "reset" buttons (also known as "destroy everything with no Undo")?
And the Browser Operating System can still do the equivalent of "kernel panic" by taking out 14 windows (which aren't really windows, but web applications) when it dies.
The closest I've come to "nice" is OmniWeb on my Mac, where they have excellent per-site preferences. This at least gives me some control over each web application, as if the browser were an OS. It isn't enough, but it's a good start.