I tried running a full desktop OS inside a browser tab, and it actually works for real work

At a glance:

• Puter is a free, open-source project that replicates a full desktop OS experience within a web browser.
• It includes a taskbar, file manager, and apps like a word processor, coding environment, and image editor, with data retained across sessions.
• While not a full replacement for a local OS, it can handle real work tasks like document editing and coding, and even supports self-hosting via Docker.

Introduction to Puter

An operating system is a fairly complex piece of software, and typically, you wouldn't think to run it inside a web browser. You might be able to access it inside a browser, but that typically just means the actual operating system is running on a remote computer, and you're just using a remote desktop tool. Surprisingly, though, there are in fact some solutions for running what are basically full operating systems directly within your web browser, and perhaps the best example of it is Puter. This is a free and open-source project you can find on GitHub, and it aims to replicate a full OS experience within your web browser. And really, it gets impressively close to being fully usable this way.

A Full Desktop Experience

Right off the bat, Puter gets a lot of things right by truly mimicking the look and feel of a desktop operating system, while still being something unique and all its own. Out of the box, you get a taskbar on the left side, though you can move it to either the bottom or top of the screen, and the taskbar gives you access to your app launcher, file manager, and a few preset apps. This includes a basic notepad, a coding environment, a camera app, and a link to the platform's App Center, as well as the Dev Center where you can add your own apps to the "computer". There's quite a bit you can find in the app center, too, from image manipulation tools to IDEs, and more.

The file management is fairly capable, too, and your data is retained across sessions. I actually tried Puter for the first time months ago, and was surprised to come back and find one of the files I created back then still available on my virtual computer. But not only that, while it's fully self-contained, it also makes it easy to upload files from your local system. You can right-click any folder in the file manager to upload files, but perhaps more importantly, if you're on a website or app where you have to load a local document, the file picker makes the upload button prominently visible, so you don't have to go through the hassle of opening a separate instance of the file manager, upload files, and then use them in the app. It makes things feel much more seamless.

Can You Actually Work on It?

As impressive as Puter is in concept, the question remains about whether it can be used for any real work. It's a bit of a silly question when you consider that you kind of need a computer to use it in the first place, but still, it's interesting to analyze. I tried writing this entire article in Puter, and as far as writing goes, it does come with the tools needed for it. Included out of the box are the Word processor, Spreadsheet, and Presentation tools, all of which are based on the OnlyOffice suite, so you can create all kinds of documents just fine. OnlyOffice is already my go-to Office suite, so I find this perfectly fine.

However, I work in a CMS, and that's where things get tricky. I wasn't able to write this content directly in my CMS because the editing page would not load. I was able to log into the CMS and view a list of articles, but I couldn't create or edit them. Again, how much of a barrier this really is can be questioned, especially when you consider you're using this OS inside a browser. You could just as easily open a new tab and do your web-related work there. In fact, Puter doesn't include a web browser out of the box, because that would be redundant. I only got as far as I did because I found a browser in the app store. Regardless, as far as writing goes, I was able to do my work perfectly fine in OnlyOffice, and looking at the app store, I see a lot of tools for things like coding, editing images, and even screen recording. I was even able to find a video calling app designed for Puter, there's a surprising range of capabilities here.

For me, aside from writing, editing images is all I really need, and I work with RAW photos frequently, so I need something more advanced. Thankfully, there's a web-based tool called Photopea that's available as an app on Puter, and it lets me edit RAW photos with most of the basic tools I'd need. I can adjust light settings and colors, as well as apply noise reduction, so it does most of what I need. The main issue is I can't seem to open any files with it normally. The files in the file picker are all greyed out so I can't select them, and dragging and dropping also doesn't work. Instead, I have to create a file and then I can use the Open and place feature in Photopea to open any file I want, and that seems to work. While it's clearly not perfect, I'd say it's very impressive that you can, with some workarounds, get most types of work done, and there are some distractions included, too. You can find a bunch of games on Puter to help you kill some time.

Self-Hosting

One thing that's extra cool about Puter is that you can also self-host the entire platform using Docker. The self-hosted version of Puter is still in early stages, but using the appropriate commands or a Compose file, you can deploy Puter on a platform like TrueNAS and access your "computer" from any device you choose.

The self-hosted version currently doesn't support the app store, so if you want to use custom apps, you have to deploy them yourself using the Dev Center, but it's cool that this is possible at all.

The Point?

I have to admit, I don't truly understand the point of a platform like Puter, but I do admire it. It's undoubtedly impressive that you can do all of this inside a web browser tab and not have to rely on tools installed on your computer locally. Instead of installing an office suite, you can get to work faster by going onto Puter and setting up your own virtual PC. I don't think this is going to be a replacement for a local operating system anytime soon, but it's a fun novelty that can actually come in handy in specific scenarios, and I appreciate that. At the very least, it's worth checking out once.