A system and method for instantiating an operating system within the context of a content management and delivery system. The operating system to be instantiated may be presented in the form of an object configured to be downloaded to a workspace in a content management and delivery application and that is created by a content manager. In the workspace at various users' local devices, a content manager may choose to allow specific objects to be cached for offline access at the various users' devices. One such object may be an operating system in and of itself. When such an operating system is instantiated within the content management and delivery system, the operating system may supersede the existing operating system thereby allowing a user of a device access to only other content and data (other objects) as so deemed permissible by a content manager. The operating system may include application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling web browsing, file management, and other operating system aspects.