Workspace

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Workspace is a term used in various branches of engineering and economic development.

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Business development

Workspace refers to small premises provided, often by local authorities or economic development agencies, to help new businesses to establish themselves. These typically provide not only physical space and utilities but also administrative services and links to support and finance organizations, as well as peer support among the tenants. A continuum of sophistication ranges through categories such as 'managed workspaces', 'business incubators' and 'business and employment co-operatives'. In cities, they are often set up in buildings that are disused but which the local authority wishes to retain as a landmark. At the larger end of the spectrum are business parks, virtual offices, technology parks and science parks.

Technology and software

In technology and software, "workspace" is a term used for several different purposes.

Software development

A workspace is (often) a file or directory that allows a user to gather various source code files and resources and work with them as a cohesive unit. [1] Often these files and resources represent the complete state of an integrated development environment (IDE) at a given time, a snapshot. Workspaces are very helpful in cases of complex projects when maintenance can be challenging. Good examples of environments that allow users to create and use workspaces are Microsoft Visual Studio and Eclipse.

In configuration management, "workspace" takes on a different but related meaning; it is a part of the file system where the files of interest (for a given task like debugging, development, etc.) are located. It stores the user's view of the files stored in the configuration management's repository.

In either case, workspace acts as an environment where a programmer can work, isolated from the outside world, for the task duration.[ citation needed ]

Graphical interfaces

GNOME's workspace switcher. Workspace switcher GNOME.png
GNOME's workspace switcher.

Additionally, workspaces refer to the grouping of windows in some window managers. Grouping applications in this way is meant to reduce clutter and make the desktop easier to navigate.

Multiple workspaces are prevalent on Unix-like operating systems and certain operating system shells. Mac OS X 10.5 and later macOS releases include an equivalent feature called "Spaces". Windows 10 now offers a similar feature called 'Task View'. Windows XP PowerToy is available to bring this functionality to Windows XP.

Most systems with support for workspaces provide keyboard shortcuts to switch between them. Many also include some form of workspace switcher to change between them and sometimes to move windows between them as well.

Workspaces are visualized in different ways. For example, on Linux computers using Compiz or Beryl with the Cube and Rotate Cube plugins enabled, each workspace is rendered as a face of an on-screen cube, and switching between workspaces is visualized by zooming out from the current face, rotating the cube to the new face, and zooming back in. On macOS, the old set of windows slides off the screen and the new set slides on. Window managers without "eye candy" often simply remove the old windows and display the new ones without any sort of intermediate effect.

Computer-supported cooperative work

In the context of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) a shared workspace is a place of collaboration that enables group awareness. "A shared workspace provides a sense of place where collaboration takes place. It is generally associated with some part of the screen real estate of the user’s computer where the user ‘‘goes’’ to work on shared artifacts, discovers work status, and interacts with his/her collaborators." [2]

Online applications

In the context of software as a service, "workspace" is a term used by software vendors for applications that allow users to exchange and organize files over the Internet.[ citation needed ]

Such applications have several advantages over traditional FTP clients or virtual folder offerings, including:[ citation needed ]

Beyond organizing and sharing files, these applications can often also be used as a business communication tool for assigning tasks, scheduling meetings, and maintaining contact information.

Robotics

In robotics, the workspace of a robot manipulator is often defined as the set of points that can be reached by its end-effector[ citation needed ] or, in other words, it is the space in which the robot works and it can be either a 3D space or a 2D surface.

Mobile or unified workspace

A mobile or unified workspace allows enterprise IT to have a trusted space on any device where IT can deliver business applications and data.

Ever since the iPad was released by Apple in 2009, bring your own device (BYOD) has become an increasingly more important problem for IT. [3] Until now, IT has purchased, provisioned, and managed all enterprise desktops which run the Microsoft Windows software. [4] There are nearly 500 million enterprise desktops in the world. However, with the introduction of smartphones and tablets, there are far more devices that are owned by the end-user - 750 million PCs and Macs, 1.5 billion smartphones, and 500 million tablets. These also run different operating systems, like iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. How does deliver business applications and data to end-users on these heterogeneous operating systems and form factors?

Federica Troni [5] and Mark Margevicius [6] introduced the concept of Workspace Aggregator [7] to solve the problem of BYOD. According to Gartner, a workspace aggregator unifies five capabilities: (1) Application Delivery: The ability to orchestrate provisioning and de-provisioning of mobile, PC and Web applications (2) Data: The secure delivery of corporate data (3) Management: Management of application life cycle, metering, and monitoring features (4) Security: Provision of context-aware security (5) User Experience: A superior user experience through the delivery of a unified workspace

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graphical user interface</span> User interface allowing interaction through graphical icons and visual indicators

A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation. In many applications, GUIs are used instead of text-based UIs, which are based on typed command labels or text navigation. GUIs were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep learning curve of command-line interfaces (CLIs), which require commands to be typed on a computer keyboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the graphical user interface</span>

The history of the graphical user interface, understood as the use of graphic icons and a pointing device to control a computer, covers a five-decade span of incremental refinements, built on some constant core principles. Several vendors have created their own windowing systems based on independent code, but with basic elements in common that define the WIMP "window, icon, menu and pointing device" paradigm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operating system</span> Software that manages computer hardware resources

An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.

In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphical shell. The desktop environment was seen mostly on personal computers until the rise of mobile computing. Desktop GUIs help the user to easily access and edit files, while they usually do not provide access to all of the features found in the underlying operating system. Instead, the traditional command-line interface (CLI) is still used when full control over the operating system is required.

In computing, an icon is a pictogram or ideogram displayed on a computer screen in order to help the user navigate a computer system. The icon itself is a quickly comprehensible symbol of a software tool, function, or a data file, accessible on the system and is more like a traffic sign than a detailed illustration of the actual entity it represents. It can serve as an electronic hyperlink or file shortcut to access the program or data. The user can activate an icon using a mouse, pointer, finger, or voice commands. Their placement on the screen, also in relation to other icons, may provide further information to the user about their usage. In activating an icon, the user can move directly into and out of the identified function without knowing anything further about the location or requirements of the file or code.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac OS 8</span> 1997 Classic Mac OS operating system by Apple and eighth major release

Mac OS 8 is an operating system that was released by Apple Computer on July 26, 1997. It includes the largest overhaul of the classic Mac OS experience since the release of System 7, approximately six years before. It places a greater emphasis on color than prior versions. Released over a series of updates, Mac OS 8 represents an incremental integration of many of the technologies which had been developed from 1988 to 1996 for Apple's overly ambitious OS named Copland. Mac OS 8 helped modernize the Mac OS while Apple developed its next-generation operating system, Mac OS X.

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">Virtual desktop</span> User interfaces describe ways in which virtual space of a computers desktop is expanded

In computing, a virtual desktop is a term used with respect to user interfaces, usually within the WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which the virtual space of a computer's desktop environment is expanded beyond the physical limits of the screen's display area through the use of software. This compensates limits of the desktop area and is helpful in reducing clutter of running graphical applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shell (computing)</span> Computer program that exposes an operating systems services to a human user or other programs

In computing, a shell is a computer program that exposes an operating system's services to a human user or other programs. In general, operating system shells use either a command-line interface (CLI) or graphical user interface (GUI), depending on a computer's role and particular operation. It is named a shell because it is the outermost layer around the operating system.

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.

Mobile device management (MDM) is the administration of mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers, and laptops. MDM is usually implemented with the use of a third-party product that has management features for particular vendors of mobile devices. Though closely related to Enterprise Mobility Management and Unified Endpoint Management, MDM differs slightly from both: unlike MDM, EMM includes mobile information management, BYOD, mobile application management and mobile content management, whereas UEM provides device management for endpoints like desktops, printers, IoT devices, and wearables as well.

User environment management is the management of a computer user's experience within their desktop environment.

In computing, virtualization or virtualisation in British English is the act of creating a virtual version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, storage devices, and computer network resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personal computer</span> Computer intended for use by an individual person

A personal computer, often referred to as a PC, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as word processing, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and gaming. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or technician. Unlike large, costly minicomputers and mainframes, time-sharing by many people at the same time is not used with personal computers. The term home computer has also been used, primarily in the late 1970s and 1980s. The advent of personal computers and the concurrent Digital Revolution have significantly affected the lives of people in all countries.

A hosted desktop is a product set within the larger cloud-computing sphere generally delivered using a combination of technologies including hardware virtualization and some form of remote connection software, Citrix XenApp or Microsoft Remote Desktop Services being two of the most common. Processing takes place within the provider's datacenter environment with traffic between the datacenter and the client being primarily display updates, mouse movements and keyboard activity.

Wanova, Inc, headquartered in San Jose, California, provides software allowing IT organizations to manage, support and protect data on desktop and laptop computers. Wanova's primary product, Wanova Mirage, was designed as an alternative to server-hosted desktop virtualization technologies.

A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on desktop computers, and web applications which run in mobile web browsers rather than directly on the mobile device.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classic Mac OS</span> Original operating system of Apple Mac (1984–2001)

Mac OS is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. The Macintosh operating system is credited with having popularized the graphical user interface concept. It was included with every Macintosh that was sold during the era in which it was developed, and many updates to the system software were done in conjunction with the introduction of new Macintosh systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MSP360</span> Walking By Faith

MSP360, formerly CloudBerry Lab, is a software and application service provider company that develops online backup, remote desktop and file management products integrated with more than 20 cloud storage providers.

Comparison of user features of operating systems refers to a comparison of the general user features of major operating systems in a narrative format. It does not encompass a full exhaustive comparison or description of all technical details of all operating systems. It is a comparison of basic roles and the most prominent features. It also includes the most important features of the operating system's origins, historical development, and role.

References

  1. M. Lloyd, Catherine. Encyclopedia of Systems Biology: Workspace (1 ed.). Springer. p. 2356. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-9863-7_1531. ISBN   978-1-4419-9863-7.
  2. Wiley Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Engineering (1 ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2008. p. D-2. ISBN   9780471383932.
  3. Kingsley-Hughes, Adrian. "Making BYOD work: The art of compromise - ZDNet". zdnet.com. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Federica Troni | Gartner".
  6. "Mark Margevicius | Gartner".
  7. "An Overview of Workspace Aggregators". www.gartner.com. Retrieved 30 April 2018.