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Ghost's operating system comes alive

Palestinian-Israeli team launches its Virtual Computer that uses "cloud computing" to let users access their desktop and data from any computer worldwide.

Dara Kerr Former senior reporter
Dara Kerr was a senior reporter for CNET covering the on-demand economy and tech culture. She grew up in Colorado, went to school in New York City and can never remember how to pronounce gif.
Dara Kerr
Ghost's OS lets users access their desktop and data from any computer worldwide.
Ghost's OS lets users access their desktop and data from any computer worldwide. Ghost Inc.

In the middle of the desert between Israel and Palestine, Ghost's high-tech Virtual Computer is set to launch Tuesday. After three years of work, Ghost finished the development of its Web-based operating system that uses "cloud computing" to let users access their desktop and data from any computer worldwide.

Ghost, short for Global Hosted Operating System, was founded in 2006 by Zvi Schreiber, whose goal was to create the Virtual Computer that works with third-party Web applications like Google Docs, Zoho, and Flickr and joins them together into one online service and can be accessed from any computer with the Internet. Users can also access their personal desktop, files and applications.

Based in the West Bank town of Ramallah, with a smaller team of employees in the Israeli town of Modiin, Schreiber was interested in creating a company that shows the world that Israelis and Palestinians can work together. Since the Israeli government forbids most travel between Israel and Palestine, the majority of their work is done through phone and video conferencing.

The alpha version of Ghost's Virtual Computer was launched in May 2008 and can be previewed on its Web site. Users can get an extra 10GB when they use the promotion code "launch." To celebrate this accomplishment, Ghost's Palestinian-Israeli team will be joined by former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair at Tuesday's launch.