G.ho.st shutting down free cloud OS desktops, both users upset

In case you're not familiar with it, G.ho.st is a cloud-based operating system. We've written about it before, and it's actually a really cool little service. The performance of their 'webtop' had improved quite a bit since I used it last, and their desktop sync app made moving files to and from the cloud a painless procedure.

Sadly, though, it was a pretty cool service. Yesterday I (along with everyone else who had an account) received an email stating that Ghost would be shutting down its free service because "changes in the marketplace mean that it is no longer economical for us to host [it]."

Ah, the curse of freemium. Plenty of users interested in the no-pay version, but not enough revenue to justify the current business model.

As such, Ghost is now shifting its attention to licensing or selling their software to other companies. That might be a tough sell, too, since it certainly seems like the cloud OS concept is something that has been well-received. There have been tons of entrants in the cloud OS space, and you probably haven't heard of more than one or two. They'll also be pitching Ghost against eyeOS, which is free -- and businesses can host on their own existing servers.

The official missive says to move your files before the 15th of March, but isn't more specific. Best move 'em now before you lose all that important data...which you probably didn't have stored on Ghost anyway.

If you're saddened by this news, you can always enjoy another ghost in the cloud....over at Adult Swim.

Tags: cloud, cloudos, death, down, EOL, g.ho.st, osupdates, shutting, web