according to access date and number of accesses, and would have the

capability to move unused data automatically into compressed

containers. Compressed objects would be uncompressed on the fly when

they are finally accessed. Objects would optionally be backed up to

nearline media while they would still appear in the index of the file

system.

For example, suppose a user has a file called "My

Resume" which was created on January 1, 2000, and not accessed again.

The system looks at files that have not been accessed for more than six

months and automatically compresses them. After say one year (a

user-defined parameter) the system prompts the user, saying "You have

326 files that haven't been accessed in the last year. If you migrate

these to a removable medium you would save 500MB of disk space. Your

system is currently equipped with a CD writer. If you choose to backup

on CD-R media (recommended) it would require 1 disk." Once the user

backs up to CD-R media, the system reports, "Your data has been backed

up on the CD-R. Please label it as backup taken on January 1, 2001, and

backup number: 001."

At a later date, if a user searches for "resume,"

the system will show him "You have a file with that name on backup

number 001 dated January 1, 2001." If the user chooses to

retrieve from the CD-R, the system prompts the user to insert the disk

labeled

backup number 001, uncompresses the data, and puts the file back in the

same directory from which it was backed up.

GUI: Today's operating systems have different

GUIs. Most of them have a single GUI

integrated with the core operating system. Linux has the X Window

System sitting on top of the kernel. Above X sits a user interface such

as Gnome or KDE. This modular design gives a lot

of flexibility but also creates performance issues. Users often find

the performance of Linux plus X plus KDE or Gnome is slower than many

other operating system. Linux has frame buffer support for a limited

number of graphic cards but there are very few applications that can

work on frame buffers.

NGOS would also follow a modular design but would do

away with the shell prompt altogether. Its GUI would talk directly to

the operating system. At the same time it would offer the flexibility

to load different GUIs so that users can choose what interface they

would like to see. This will also give the opportunity to develop the