Switzerland-based deskNET is debuting the public beta version of Sobees today, an application that aims to bring the web to a personalized desktop environment. We first came across Sobees when they presented their project in the DemoPit at the TechCrunch50 conference.

I like the concept of this really… though would have to dig more into its functionality to judge. (As well as actually test it.) My main concern would be for the requirement of .NET 3.5 SP1. a)forced upgrade for most people b)example being it will be a long time before work pushes that update. That being said, a silverlight version or installing it at home should be possible.  However, that being said, for most of us on Windows machines that won’t be much of an issue.

First impressions… the install is fairly painless.  It takes a *while* to install .Net 3.5 SP1, but that is typical of all the .Net framework installations.  The Sobees install is 1.2mb, so the download doesn’t take long.  However the built in downloader for .Net 3.5 SP1 takes a while as it is 52mb.  Make sure you give it time to finish.  I recommend downloading and installing .Net 3.5 SP1  beforehand – you can monitor the install a little better that way.

***Huge Warning here***

If you use VMWare proceed with caution!!! After installing .NET 3.5 SP1 it crashed my install of XP.  I could no longer boot to the gui with an error on “vmgina.dll.”  After spending 2 hours working on it and doing an XP install over my existing one I was able to get back online.  I am still in the process of recovering.  I did however find a MS KB article on the issue.  Read this before going forward.  The gist of it is though that the 3rd party video driver that VMWare installs, somehow gets messed up by that install.

I will have to review the actual software in a follow up.

I currently have it installed on my laptop (Which sits immediately to the left of the dual monitors attached to my main computers’ ATI X800xl videocard) and I can now move my mouse over to my laptop screen just by going off the left edge of my desktop computer screen. At which point I have full control of the laptop and can even copy and paste between it and my desktop as if they were one machine. You really have to throw this on one of your ghetto machines and try it out as it’s something to behold (It’s also good for confusing your friends when they sit down at your computer). Oh… and the best part? It’s free!
Check it out.