I know I mentioned this somewhere. I am running my Ramblin’ Dan’s Store in the AWS cloud. I have total control and freedom of choice over all the hardware configuration, (servers and routers) as well as all the software including the operating system software. It is the same as having my own server here in my office.
This is not a web site solution for everyone. There is a very large amount of system knowledge required even though Amazon makes it as easy as possible to get going. My use is a speck in the eye of an elephant but I am very impressed the service can be scaled to my minimal needs. It is actually no different than using any ISP except the owner (me) has total hardware and software responsibility.
There are many other ways to use the cloud as a service.
I recently bought MS Office 365 which is served from the cloud. Which cloud I am uncertain but I assume their own. I have the full office programs on my personal computer but I can also link through the cloud services so I can operate between several (5) computers (one at a time) and not lose my work.
All updates are automatic so I always have the latest and greatest. Actually I don’t count that as a high priority as office packages are a very mature product and at my old employer we were always several versions behind with almost no need to upgrade.
Adobe has gone to the same system of serving their software from what they call the Creative Cloud (CC).
There are a lot of “Orwell 1984 – Big Brother” control fanatics screaming doom and gloom about Adobe CC, but for most users it works well. I am not going to take a position as I am not experienced with the service, but it is the future for major software distribution.
Microsoft is also taking, or at least considering the same path with its WIN 10 OS software. Versioning may end at 10 and all upgrades and improvements will be by subscription. The OS will always be up to date.
All browsers have auto updated themselves between versions for as long as I remember. Why have versioning if updates can just happen? It does help to track change and when it occurs. Sometimes upgrades break old software so the key is that all software must know and play the upgrade game and continue stay current. I have had to step backwards especially with MS Internet Explorer. We were hung on Version 6.0 for many years at my old employer. We also stayed with WIN95Pro for more than a decade.
The vision is if all the computer software (MS Office, Adobe, OS, etc.) was purchased as a cloud subscription, then the computer would always be running the latest and greatest version. A noble pursuit and perhaps a vision of the future. I think Google has tried that, even AOL well back in the day.
It must be based on an assumption that all users want to have the latest and greatest features automatically. I think that is not a valid assumption. But then, some humans seem very willing to give up freedoms (of choice) for features, convenience and automation… even me… sometimes.