Kind of a weird link, but: There’s a paper under review at alt chi right now called “Eden OS: A Call for a New Concept and Metaphor for Operating Systems for PCs”. This feels within the remit of this community and looks pretty interesting. Alt chi does an interesting thing where anyone can review any paper, all you need to do is volunteer to review for it on PCS (some instructions avail here). So, if this seems interesting to you, you can read it now or review if you want

I’ve never really looked at alt.chi before. These abstracts are so much more interesting to me than 99% of papers presented at CHI!

Extreme agree

can you paste a bit of text here so we get an idea about Eden OS without going through any sign up process to review it? (I can't find anything on the CHI site after a quick link flail and Goog search) cheers!

I think metadata is okay to share, so here’s the abstract: Current operating systems for our PCs don't match our human needs to support creativity and cognitive performance. In an era of information overload they fail to provide structures that align with our thinking patterns, help us to navigate our personal data, and focus on what matters. Through a design-driven approach, I call for rethinking operating systems and propose a new metaphor and a screen-based interaction concept. Instead of the old desktop metaphor and linear folder structures, my new concept Eden OS embraces the interconnectivity of information allowing users to make cross connections and focus their individual projects and structures. The concept is inspired by gardens –– ecosystems that are partly human design, partly naturally grown. Similarly, users can shape and arrange their projects while a content-based network of all their data grows naturally below the surface.

I would very much like to read this paper without signing up at that website. Would anyone be willing to help with that? 😉

If you are interested in reading it but don’t want to review it’s fine to wait until after the review process is over (next month)

I wonder how the "natural growth" bit is done - obviously there's things like indexing and seeking out connections between data - with AI? An OS that rethinks desktops and linear folders is so overdue (oh here's a thought: see my own work on that! 🤓)