What website is this?
Novastart is a desktop operating system that lays everyday app windows out on an infinite canvas. Windows do not stack on top of each other: mail, spreadsheets, and notes can sit side by side, zoomed out for the whole layout or in on a single cell. A folder can hold more than one canvas, and the window positions are still there the next time you open it. To look first, you can run the whole system inside a window on Windows 10/11 or an Intel Mac. Using it as a daily desktop means installing it on an x86 PC. Working the same canvas at the same time is only on the Team plan, and AI agents that click inside windows are billed separately.
Key Features
- Open Gmail, Excel, and Notion as signed-in real windows, along with ONLYOFFICE and Linux apps. Other sites open in the bundled Chrome.
- Zoom and pan the canvas and keep the layout. The free plan allows 1 folder, 2 canvases, and 4 windows on each; Pro and Team do not cap them.
- One task can assign up to 10 helpers, each with its own window and cursor. You can pause, change the instruction, or take a window back.
- An agent can click directly, edit a plan first, answer from a screenshot only, or watch and then take over.
- The Team plan shares a canvas peer to peer. Each person has a mouse and keyboard, can use the other person's windows, and can chat.
- Canvases stay on the machine by default. Screenshots and instructions for an agent task are sent to OpenAI.
Use Cases
- Coworkers in different places open the same Team canvas, edit a spreadsheet, and click into a window on the other person's machine instead of sharing a screen.
- When several open web pages need to be compared, an agent assigns a helper to each window while you stay in the notes beside them and change the request mid-run.
- Someone who splits classes, travel, and accounts onto different canvases finds the apps where they were left the next time the canvas opens.
- Someone who has not decided to replace an operating system tries the app window on an existing Windows PC or Intel Mac without formatting the drive.
- When a program needs to move the cursor and click windows on the canvas, a developer can connect the Open Virtual Input SDK in Python, JavaScript, or Rust.
Who is it for?
- Individuals who want mail, spreadsheets, and notes side by side, still in place the next day.
- People trying it on Windows 10/11 or an Intel Mac with about 8 GB of RAM, 32 GB of disk, and hardware virtualization turned on.
- Small teams that need several people operating one desktop and accept the Team monthly price.
- People who accept that agents call OpenAI and who will review the run log kept on the machine.
- A weaker fit for Apple silicon Macs, and for anyone who will not hand a whole PC to a new system and also minds lag in the app window.
- A poor fit for anyone who only wants a chat window and does not need local apps or a canvas layout.
How It Compares to Similar Tools?
An online whiteboard fits sticky notes and sketches. Novastart is a full desktop, and the windows are signed-in apps. A video meeting lets you watch another person's screen. A Team canvas gives each person a cursor and a way into windows on the other computer. A chat assistant stays in the conversation. These agents click and type on their own. The agents page says to bring your own OpenAI API key, and the pricing page charges per use. If you already switch windows on your current system and do not want another virtualization layer or a reinstall, the desktop you have is the more direct choice.
FAQs
Q: Can I use Novastart for free?
A: Yes, you can start for free. The free plan opens the same apps as the paid plans, but only 1 folder, 2 canvases, and 4 windows on each, and it does not include team collaboration. Pro is $10 per month, Team is $20 per month, and agent charges are separate.
Q: Will installing Novastart wipe my computer?
A: The app will not. It runs in a window on Windows 10/11 or an Intel Mac. Novastart OS replaces the system on the PC where you install it. If that PC is already Ubuntu, a package can add Novastart to the desktop you have.
Q: Will Novastart's AI agents upload my canvas?
A: Not the whole canvas. Canvases stay on the machine by default. Only the screenshots and instructions for the current task are sent to OpenAI. The agents page asks you to bring your own API key, and the pricing page lists $0.02 per use.
Q: Can coworkers operate a canvas together without the Team plan?
A: No. The pricing page says team collaboration is included only in the Team plan at $20 per month. Free and Pro do not include it.
