Turbo (software)

Last updated
Turbo
Formerly
  • Spoon
  • Xenocode
TypePrivate
Industry Computer software
FounderKenji Obata
Headquarters
Number of employees
25

Turbo (formerly Spoon and Xenocode [1] ) is a set of software products and services developed by the Code Systems Corporation for application virtualization, portable application creation, and digital distribution. Code Systems Corporation is an American corporation headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and is best known for its Turbo products that include Browser Sandbox, Turbo Studio, TurboServer, and Turbo.

Contents

Kenji Obata founded Code Systems Corporation in 2006 and introduced Turbo’s precursor, Xenocode. Xenocode was an early application virtualization engine for the Windows platform. Obata serves as the CEO of the corporation, which had become commonly known as Spoon since a rebranding in 2010.

Turbo’s tools package conventional software applications for Microsoft Windows in a portable application format that can be delivered via a single executable or streamed over the web. Files and settings automatically synchronize across devices via Turbo’s patented virtualization technology which allows access to local files and printers from web-based applications.

About the company

CEO Obata graduated from Yale University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics (summa cum laude). He spent several years as a development lead at Microsoft Corporation before attending the University of California, Berkeley to obtain his Ph.D. in Computer Science. After receiving his Ph.D., Obata returned to Seattle in 2006 to grow the company.

From 2006 to 2009, the Code Systems Corporation developed Xenocode, one of the first application virtualization engines for the Windows platform. The product focused on application deployment via preconfigured executables.

Spoon was launched in 2010 as a reintroduction of Xenocode’s virtualization engines. Turbo’s technology combines application and storage virtualization with web-based network and synchronization protocols, machine learning algorithms, and semistructured large data storage systems. Turbo.net virtual applications run in isolated sandboxes, allowing multiple application versions to run simultaneously without conflict. Turbo.net uses technologies such as Scala, Akka, Lift, and AWS to build its website and server systems.

Turbo technology is used by educational, entertainment, financial, government, health care, and information technology organizations. Turbo’s customer base consists of tens of thousands of organizations and millions of end users.

Products include solutions for enterprise software distribution; web development and testing tools such as Browser Sandbox, Browser Studio, and Turbo; and free accounts that allow users to stream hundreds of brand-name applications like Skype, Chrome, and Firefox without installing them. All accounts also come with cloud storage hosted on Turbo.net.

Turbo is headquartered in Seattle, is profitable and employee-owned, and adds thousands of new users each week.

Turbo.net

Turbo.net
Type of site
Digital Distribution, Cloud computing
Available inEnglish

Turbo.net, the official website of Turbo, hosts applications that can be launched via the web with no installation. [2] Turbo’s application library includes popular software like Chrome, Skype, VLC Media Player, SketchUp, and hundreds of other top free and open-source applications. [3] Turbo works through a small browser plugin with no administrative privileges or drivers required.

In addition to functioning as a tool for individuals, Turbo is often used by professionals who work from multiple desktops, small businesses and teams requiring collaboration, and larger enterprises with distributed or remote workforces. The introduction of Turbo, which combines Selenium with Turbo browsers for unlimited automated browser testing, has increased Turbo’s utilization as a web development and testing tool.

Turbo works by materializing a virtual environment on the endpoint device, transferring application components required for execution, capturing application interactions with the storage system into a sandbox, and synchronizing the sandbox contents back to the cloud.

The Turbo Virtual Machine (SVM) is a lightweight implementation of core operating system APIs, including the filesystem, registry, process, and threading subsystems; it is completely implemented within the Windows user-mode space. Applications executing within the Turbo virtual environment interact with a virtualized filesystem, registry, and process environment, rather than directly with the host device operating system. The virtualization engine handles requests within the virtualized environment internally or, when appropriate, routes requests to the host device filesystem and registry, possibly redirecting or overriding requests as determined by the virtual application configuration. [4]

Cross-browser testing - Browser Sandbox

Turbo.net hosts browsersandbox.com, which allows users to run multiple versions of browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and mobile browsers on a single machine. Web developers can use Browser Sandbox for cross-browser testing to ensure websites function correctly in multiple versions of popular browsers. [5]

Virtualized browsers [6] behave exactly like installed browsers, and because they run locally, web applications tests can be hosted on the user’s own development machine or on internal servers.

Turbo.net supports standard browser components like Java applets and ActiveX controls as well as popular browser plugins like Firebug, IE Developer Toolbar, and CSS and JavaScript debugging consoles.

App Library

Similar to their Browser Sandbox, Turbo hosts an extensive application library filled with hundreds of free and open-source applications that Turbo streams to end users. [7] The app library is part of Turbo’s free basic account and lets anyone stream and use full desktop applications like Skype, Google Chrome, VLC media player, Sublime Text, Notepad++, and GIMP without installing them.

Turbo virtual applications do not need to be accessed through a browser. Users with Turbo’s plugin can press [Alt+Win] to bring up the Spoon Console, which acts as an alternate Start menu that can launch both local and virtualized applications and files.

Turbo claims that running these applications in virtual sandboxes is faster, safer, and more portable than installing them locally.

Software

Turbo Studio

Turbo Studio
Developer(s) Code Systems Corporation
Stable release
17.7.987.23 / February 9, 2018;5 years ago (2018-02-09)
Operating system Microsoft Windows
Available inEnglish
Type Portable application creators, application virtualization, containerization
License Trialware with no advance expiry warning
Website turbo.net/studio

Turbo Studio (formerly Spoon Studio and Xenocode Virtual Application Studio) is an application virtualization tool that runs on Microsoft Windows. The tool packages software applications into portable applications; these single executable files can be run instantly on any Windows computer. Turbo Studio emulates the operating system features that are necessary for applications to run and therefore reduces resource overhead. Turbo Studio allows the user to convert existing applications into virtual applications. Deployment models include standalone EXE, MSI package, and HTTP-based delivery via the Turbo browser plugin.

Turbo Studio packages all application files, settings, runtimes, and components into a single package that runs instantly with zero setup. The Turbo virtual machine (SVM) supports all versions of the .NET Framework and Java, thus allowing users to execute .NET, Java, and AIR-based applications with no separate installations. Turbo allows legacy software to run properly on new operating systems, thereby reducing the cost and risk associated with operating system rollouts.

Turbo is the only virtualization engine in its class to support virtualization of both 32- and 64-bit applications; system services and databases such as SQL Server; and advanced software technologies such as DCOM and SxS. Fully user-mode implementation eliminates the need for device drivers, reboots, and administrative privileges.

TurboServer

TurboServer
Developer(s) Code Systems Corporation
Stable release
18.3.566 / March 5, 2018;5 years ago (2018-03-05)
Operating system Microsoft Windows
Available inEnglish
Type Digital distribution, containerization
Website turbo.net/server

TurboServer (formerly Spoon Server) is an application deployment platform that allows software packaged with Turbo Studio to be deployed, patched, and managed via the web. End users log into a website from any browser and are able to launch and use desktop-level applications like Microsoft Word and Photoshop without having to install them. It is a private version of the Turbo.net service.

Applications are streamed to user desktops and run on clean desktops without administrative privileges. Desktops can be re-imaged and locked-down.

TurboServer includes additional administrative features such as AD/LDAP integration, user and group application access control, usage logging, and analytics.

Turbo

Turbo (formerly Spoonium) is a platform of tools that allows users to package Windows desktop applications and their dependencies into software containers. Application containers made with Turbo can run on any Windows machine without installers, app breaks, or dependencies.

Containers can be used to streamline the software development life cycle. Developers can ensure that their applications run as intended by including specific dependencies within containers. Software testers can rapidly pull and test software without having to install dependencies, can test multiple application versions side-by-side, and can return application containers to their development teams in specific app states. System administrators can reduce failures due to differences in development, testing, production, and end-user environments.

Turbo’s service is currently in an open beta. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Java applet</span> Small application written in Java

Java applets were small applications written in the Java programming language, or another programming language that compiles to Java bytecode, and delivered to users in the form of Java bytecode. The user launched the Java applet from a web page, and the applet was then executed within a Java virtual machine (JVM) in a process separate from the web browser itself. A Java applet could appear in a frame of the web page, a new application window, Sun's AppletViewer, or a stand-alone tool for testing applets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux distribution</span> Operating system based on the Linux kernel

A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel, and often a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to powerful supercomputers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plug-in (computing)</span> Software component that adds a specific feature to an existing software application

In computing, a plug-in is a software component that adds a specific feature to an existing computer program. When a program supports plug-ins, it enables customization.

In computing, cross-platform software is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software requires a separate build for each platform, but some can be directly run on any platform without special preparation, being written in an interpreted language or compiled to portable bytecode for which the interpreters or run-time packages are common or standard components of all supported platforms.

Installation of a computer program, is the act of making the program ready for execution. Installation refers to the particular configuration of software or hardware with a view to making it usable with the computer. A soft or digital copy of the piece of software (program) is needed to install it. There are different processes of installing a piece of software (program). Because the process varies for each program and each computer, programs often come with an installer, a specialised program responsible for doing whatever is needed for the installation. Installation may be part of a larger software deployment process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zero Install</span> Software packaging mechanism

Zero Install is a means of distributing and packaging software for multiple operating systems.

In computer security, a sandbox is a security mechanism for separating running programs, usually in an effort to mitigate system failures and/or software vulnerabilities from spreading. The isolation metaphor is taken from the idea of children who do not play well together, so each is given their own sandbox to play in alone. It is often used to execute untested or untrusted programs or code, possibly from unverified or untrusted third parties, suppliers, users or websites, without risking harm to the host machine or operating system. A sandbox typically provides a tightly controlled set of resources for guest programs to run in, such as storage and memory scratch space. Network access, the ability to inspect the host system, or read from input devices are usually disallowed or heavily restricted.

In computing, Java Web Start is a deprecated framework developed by Sun Microsystems that allows users to start application software for the Java Platform directly from the Internet using a web browser. The technology enables seamless version updating for globally distributed applications and greater control of memory allocation to the Java virtual machine.

Mobile app development is the act or process by which a mobile app is developed for one or more mobile devices, which can include personal digital assistants (PDA), enterprise digital assistants (EDA), or mobile phones. Such software applications are specifically designed to run on mobile devices, taking numerous hardware constraints into consideration. Common constraints include CPU architecture and speeds, available memory (RAM), limited data storage capacities, and considerable variation in displays and input methods. These applications can be pre-installed on phones during manufacturing or delivered as web applications, using server-side or client-side processing to provide an "application-like" experience within a web browser.

Application virtualization is a software technology that encapsulates computer programs from the underlying operating system on which they are executed. A fully virtualized application is not installed in the traditional sense, although it is still executed as if it were. The application behaves at runtime like it is directly interfacing with the original operating system and all the resources managed by it, but can be isolated or sandboxed to varying degrees.

The following is a timeline of virtualization development. In computing, virtualization is the use of a computer to simulate another computer. Through virtualization, a host simulates a guest by exposing virtual hardware devices, which may be done through software or by allowing access to a physical device connected to the machine.

Application streaming is a form of on-demand software distribution. In these scenarios, only essential portions of an application's code need to be installed on the computer: while the end user performs actions in the application, the necessary code and files are delivered over the network as and when they are required.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe AIR</span> Cross-platform runtime system for building rich web applications

Adobe AIR is a cross-platform runtime system currently developed by Harman International, in collaboration with Adobe Inc., for building desktop applications and mobile applications, programmed using Adobe Animate, ActionScript, and optionally Apache Flex. It was originally released in 2008. The runtime supports installable applications on Windows, macOS, and mobile operating systems, including Android, iOS, and BlackBerry Tablet OS.

Microsoft Application Virtualization is an application virtualization and application streaming solution from Microsoft. It was originally developed by Softricity, a company based in Boston, Massachusetts, acquired by Microsoft on July 17, 2006. App-V represents Microsoft's entry to the application virtualization market, alongside their other virtualization technologies such as Hyper-V, Microsoft User Environment Virtualization (UE-V), Remote Desktop Services, and System Center Virtual Machine Manager.

Comparison of the Java and .NET platforms.

Remote Desktop Services (RDS), known as Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 and earlier, is one of the components of Microsoft Windows that allow a user to initiate and control an interactive session on a remote computer or virtual machine over a network connection. RDS was first released in 1998 as Terminal Server in Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition, a stand-alone edition of Windows NT 4.0 Server that allowed users to log in remotely. Starting with Windows 2000, it was integrated under the name of Terminal Services as an optional component in the server editions of the Windows NT family of operating systems, receiving updates and improvements with each version of Windows. Terminal Services were then renamed to Remote Desktop Services with Windows Server 2008 R2 in 2009.

QVD is an open-source virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) product built on Linux. Its main purpose is to provide remote desktops to users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snap (software)</span> Software deployment system for Linux by Canonical

Snap is a software packaging and deployment system developed by Canonical for operating systems that use the Linux kernel and the systemd init system. The packages, called snaps, and the tool for using them, snapd, work across a range of Linux distributions and allow upstream software developers to distribute their applications directly to users. Snaps are self-contained applications running in a sandbox with mediated access to the host system. Snap was originally released for cloud applications but was later ported to also work for Internet of Things devices and desktop applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katalon Studio</span> Automation testing software tool

Katalon Platform is an automation testing software tool developed by Katalon, Inc. The software is built on top of the open-source automation frameworks Selenium, Appium with a specialized IDE interface for web, API, mobile and desktop application testing. Its initial release for internal use was in January 2015. Its first public release was in September 2016. In 2018, the software acquired 9% of market penetration for UI test automation, according to The State of Testing 2018 Report by SmartBear.

References

  1. "XenoCode changes name in Spoon". 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  2. "Testing Web Applications Using Spoon.net's Magic Browser Page". 2014-02-11. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  3. "How to Use Spoon.net to Test Apps on a Virtual Cloud Computer". 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
  4. "Spoon.net Virtualization". 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
  5. "13 Essential Tools to Check Cross-Browser Compatibility". Mashable . 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  6. "The Secrets Of Previewing Webpages in Multiple Browsers". 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
  7. "Spoon: Run Windows App From The Cloud". 2012-12-21. Retrieved 2012-12-21.
  8. "Spoonium Documentation". 2014-09-08. Retrieved 2014-09-08.