I understand WebTop is a different Linux OS, and isn't Chrome OS or Android based, and that it runs alongside Android when the phone is docked. But are you saying that its ALWAYS running, even if you don't have a dock? I've heard things both ways about the memory, but if its not running all the time, I see no reason for them to lock out half the RAM, though I know things like this happen often. *cough* PSP Slim *cough*
Anyway, once Chrome OS comes out, it will make the whole idea of webtop pointless IMHO. Chrome OS netbooks will be far cheaper than these docks are turning out to be, and you don't lose the ability to use your phone as a phone whenever you want to use your computer. Yes, I realize you can still make/receive calls, but talking on a laptop is not the same as on a phone.
Personally, I think they should do one of two things:
1) Build a netbook form factor with the dock where the touchpad would be, using the phone itself as the touchpad. Use standard micro-usb for power and the keyboard, and hdmi for the display. Balance the weight of the phone up-front with a battery in the rear.
2) Build a wireless version that lets you keep the phone in your pocket. Basically, build a netbook-like terminal, consisting of a bluetooth keyboard and DLNA equipped display, as well as its own battery. You wouldn't even have to take the phone out of your pocket, and the device could be much lighter and thinner than a standard netbook, considering it has no hardwire other than the bluetooth and DLNA chipsets. This would likely be a higher-end version of the dock, but at the price the current one costs, I'm sure they could do it.
Either of these would just be netbook-shaped terminals for the phone, the software would be the very same Android OS that's on the phone. It may be useful to create a more laptop-oriented UI, though this should not be a separate OS, just something that the phone runs atop the standard OS whenever it detects its being used with a lapdock. Moto could try to make a UI themselves, or I'm sure a lightweight Linux window manager like XFCE, LXDE, or even an older version of Gnome would work great. Alternatively, Ice Cream Sandwich may have the built-in ability to switch to a Honeycomb-style UI based on the size of the screen, which could be easily adapted to a netbook-like device as well.
The alternative would be to just let you use the dock to log in as a different user. You'd of course still have the same Google profile, apps, preferences, etc. I'm simply talking about logging into the same hardware with a second user profile, sharing resources as each account needs them. Anybody who's remotely familiar with a desktop Linux OS or two should know what I'm talking about, where multiple people can be logged into the same computer at once, providing you have enough terminals, without any perceivable performance hit. This would be good, as it would likely be a better way to have two separate UI's and sets of preferences than running one set on top of the other every time it detects a webtop device. I don't know for a fact that this would work in Android, but every other Linux-based OS has had no problem doing that.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram