Getting started

NextOS is a full desktop that runs in your browser tab. There's nothing to install: open it, sign in, and you have a working computer - a file system, apps, a terminal, and an assistant that can act on all of it.

Sign in

Sign in with Google, GitHub, or an email and password. Signing in with Google also connects Google Drive - that's not a separate step, because your home directory syncs there by default. If you'd rather use a different sign-in method, you can still connect Drive (or another cloud storage provider) later from Settings.

Once you're signed in, the same files and settings follow you to any device where you sign in again.

The strip

At the bottom of the screen is the strip - the fastest way to do almost anything:

• Type a word to launch an app or jump to a window that's already open.
• Start with / to find a file by name.
• Start with > to run a line in the terminal without opening it.
• Start with @ to hand a task straight to an agent.
• Type an ordinary sentence and the assistant answers, right there.

Windows (called cells) snap to the edges of the screen and tile automatically. You can pop a cell out into its own browser window, park it out of the way, or save the whole arrangement as a scene you can restore with a keystroke.

Files

Every app reads and writes through one real file system, so a note you write, a photo you import, and a file an agent creates all live in the same place and can all be opened by anything that reads files. Finder gives you the familiar folder view; the terminal gives you a real shell over the same files.

Sync

Sign-in with Google brings your files along automatically, checked on a regular interval. On a paid plan, sync happens in near real time instead of on a timer, and you can turn it down to once a minute. If a file changes in two places at once, it's merged automatically; anything that can't be merged safely is kept as a conflict copy so nothing is lost.

What's next

• Explore the App Store and add apps beyond the built-in set.
• Meet the assistant and agents and let them do real work for you.
• Connect a team if you're setting this up for more than yourself.