Nivio: Not Just Another Internet Start-up

Nivio is one of the latest buzz-words in online start-ups. Started by a team of Indian engineers, this service is a virtual Windows based desktop, that can be accessed online, from any other computer in the world. While this is by no means a new concept, as the FTPs and Remote Desktops of the world have long been doing the same service, it was never before customised for the general internet user. Nivio as the website introduces itself, is "always turned on".

The chief convenience that Nivio provides is this: it is accessible via a browser, so there is no need to install any other software in order to reach your remote desktop, just a regular browser would do. That surely helps. And most everyone who used an FTP based service knows that this is a step forward. But another feature that is perhaps not as evident is that all the programs that run on your personal virtual Nivio desktop, are actually running on a server somewhere on another continent, which uses so much less of your local computer's memory. This is important. Imagine that you need a processor faster than 2 GHz to run a particular program with maximum efficiency, and the computer you have at home is an old 786 Mhz, but you have a broadband internet connection. You can now run your demanding program process on your virtual desktop, and just have the input and output streamed out to you via the browser.

Then there are other features which definitely make it user-friendly. The virtual desktop looks like and works just like any normal Windows desktop, with the idea being that most people are extremely familiarised with the Windows-based GUI and desktop. And there's 5GB storage space available, which is fairly sufficient for a virtual desktop service. Throw in some virus protection, automatic file back-up, anti-spam and the opportunity to install and use hundreds of software on a trial basis, and then the whole package becomes a lucrative proposition. A free trial is also being offered currently, although, due to better than foreseen demand, there is currently a waiting time between registering online for the Nivio beta and actually getting the trial access. The website, which seems to have caught the fancy of a fair chunk of people from across the world in just about a month since its launch, is apparently,augmenting its resources to cope with the surge in the number of interested users.

While time will tell whether Nivio will last the initial euphoria and continue to innovate and improve its portfolio of offerings to attract and retain a growing share of internet users - many of whom are likely to belong to the younger generation - it is certainly a service that has the potential to benefit thousands of users across the world. To be able to get them to actively use Nivio on a continued basis, given that it is not a free service (not yet anyway) would certainly be a challenge, as laptop sizes keep shrinking and memory stick storage capacities keep increasing. But never say never.