Google Releasing Chrome OS in 2010

sandman748

Google Announces PC Operating System to Compete with Windows | Epicenter | Wired.com

Thoughts? I predict epic fail.

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networker050184

A light weight, fast operating system that is free?? I can't wait!

Oh wait, never mind I already have a machine running Linux.....

msteinhilber

I sincerely hope it fails to take off. Sure it will have some of a cult following and probably will get some impressive numbers as people download it to see what it's all about to begin with but I don't see it catching on for the long term, at least now.

Frankly, the more and more Google expands into so many different markets - the more and more I dislike them. I really only use Google strictly to search the web, they have some impressive work they have done but the thought of them becoming the go to company for search, e-mail, voice, and an OS is a bit too invasive for me - so I wont get that involved with them.

One portion of the announcement:

"People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. [...] Even more importantly, they don’t want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates."

I'm not too sure about that, but that might be because I am a geek. I never have to wait for my computer to boot or my browser to start. Most of the people I support often ask me if there is harm in leaving their computer on all the time and when I mention that's what I do, they typically say they do as well and were just wondering. I can see it being more popular on a platform such as a netbook but not for mainstream computing.

tiersten

networker050184 wrote: »

A light weight, fast operating system that is free?? I can't wait!

Oh wait, never mind I already have a machine running Linux.....

Android is based on the Linux kernel and the new OS will probably be similar if not actually a desktop version of Android.

tiersten

msteinhilber wrote: »

they don’t want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware

msteinhilber wrote: »

I can see it being more popular on a platform such as a netbook but not for mainstream computing.

The thing which may be good about Google pushing for a new OS is if it has a Linux kernel which is pretty likely due to Android, the hardware manufacturers might be a little better about releasing drivers.

mikej412

That article doesn't really say how the Google Linux offering on a Netbook is going to be any different from the Linux offerings on existing Netbooks

Ahriakin

I can see it having some benefit for Kiosk PCs, or as an advanced embedded OS on smaller appliances but that's about it.

tiersten

It is going to an OS designed specifically to run web apps. It won't be an Android style OS where most things run inside the Dalvik VM but there may be parts that overlap. I guess the core components will be shared.

dynamik

Ahriakin wrote: »

I can see it having some benefit for Kiosk PCs, or as an advanced embedded OS on smaller appliances but that's about it.

Also for low-end Wal-Mart PCs where people just need internet.

wd40

Will they send information about my hardware, software, and files to Google "After I agree to the EULA which 99% of people do not read" to give me better search results?

tiersten

wd40 wrote: »

Will they send information about my hardware, software, and files to Google "After I agree to the EULA which 99% of people do not read" to give me better search results?

The next evolution would be an actual android that sifts through the contents of your house. Just be careful about it finding your pr0n stash...

tiersten

dynamik wrote: »

Also for low-end Wal-Mart PCs where people just need internet.

Yeah... How many times have you heard people say that they only need internet + basic productivity apps and then complain when it doesn't do <insert random task here>?

msteinhilber

tiersten wrote: »

Yeah... How many times have you heard people say that they only need internet + basic productivity apps and then complain when it doesn't do <insert random task here>?

That is one inherent issue with people in general, they come in looking for X and are told by a salesperson this is really only good for X. They get it home and days, weeks, or months later they want Y and Z right along with it.

I spent my share of time managing a retail computer store and time and time again somebody would come in looking for the absolute bottom of the barrel computer for strictly web browsing and some occasional productivity apps. All of my employees always informed the user that the PC was designed strictly for very basic use and any gaming, video editing, etc would not work well if at all on what they were looking to purchase. Guess how many of the people that buy the lowest end computer come back and are upset because the game they bought their son for his birthday doesn't work?

I'm not sure the general computing population is quite ready for a simple device for web and e-mail quite yet. I think the vast majority of the people that need e-mail and web on the go are going to be better suited with a smartphone of some sorts. Obviously you will have your select group where an ultraportable netbook would come in handy, I use one myself for lugging around for when I need to use something at a remote site for a short while but it's not by any means a web and e-mail machine - it's a SecureCRT, Wireshark, and for some wireless site surveying.

dynamik

tiersten wrote: »

Yeah... How many times have you heard people say that they only need internet + basic productivity apps and then complain when it doesn't do <insert random task here>?

Never. You think I associate with people who buy PCs from places like Wal-Mart

/smug

LarryDaMan

msteinhilber wrote: »

Frankly, the more and more Google expands into so many different markets - the more and more I dislike them.

I feel the same way about CompTIA in that regard. How about a CommonSense+ exam?

msteinhilber

LarryDaMan wrote: »

I feel the same way about CompTIA in that regard. How about a CommonSense+ exam?

I thought they released that as the Strata exam.

wd40

tiersten wrote: »

The next evolution would be an actual android that sifts through the contents of your house.

:rofl:

That would be nice

JDMurray

Only the first offering of Chrome OS will be for netbooks. Expect a full-size, feature-packed Chrome OS in 2011.

An extremely important aspect of Chrome OS is that it is fully Open Source. You get to tinker with the source code as you can with Linux. In this regard, I don't see Chrome OS as much competition with Windows as it will be with the popular Linux distros. I'll be running it VMWare right next to Linux.

Google takes on Windows with Chrome OS - CNN.com

Pash

Let's get something straight. There is nothing wrong with free out of the box, open source OS's. It's all market share at the end of the day and it only increases the quality.

msteinhilber

Pash wrote: »

Let's get something straight. There is nothing wrong with free out of the box, open source OS's. It's all market share at the end of the day and it only increases the quality.

I strongly disagree. Since it is coming from Google, you can rest assured they have a way to monetize it through the collection of user data to utilize for better targeted advertising. I draw the line at a certain point, feel free to analyze my search terms and target ad's based on that - but that's my choice, I choose to utilize the search engine and frankly there is just no avoiding that one if you want decent search results - but I'm not going to go any further and introduce more streams of data for Google to analyze.

Pash

msteinhilber wrote: »

I strongly disagree. Since it is coming from Google, you can rest assured they have a way to monetize it through the collection of user data to utilize for better targeted advertising. I draw the line at a certain point, feel free to analyze my search terms and target ad's based on that - but that's my choice, I choose to utilize the search engine and frankly there is just no avoiding that one if you want decent search results - but I'm not going to go any further and introduce more streams of data for Google to analyze.

Correct me If im wrong but isnt that speculation until they start releasing more info? And also, if its truly open source, then turning of this aledged monitoring would be fairly easy anyway surely?

I still maintain than having another free OS to choose from is potentially only a good thing for us all. I don't think google has done anything to warrant me not wanting to try their first OS attempt.

msteinhilber

Pash wrote: »

Correct me If im wrong but isnt that speculation until they start releasing more info? And also, if its truly open source, then turning of this aledged monitoring would be fairly easy anyway surely?

I still maintain than having another free OS to choose from is potentially only a good thing for us all. I don't think google has done anything to warrant me not wanting to try their first OS attempt.

Correct, it is speculation although I am sure many people would be surprised if any form of collecting non-user identifiable data would not end up taking place.

As far as having another free OS to choose from being a good thing, I don't view it as such but that's just my opinion. All it will be is another Linux distro, just Googleized. I agree it might draw some more attention to the capabilities of Linux which would be a good thing, but in that regard it also has the ability to cause the opposite and get a flock of users that adopt it and blindly believe it's all the greatness they need because Google made it - not because Linux itself is a fast lightweight OS.

Pash

msteinhilber wrote: »

Correct, it is speculation although I am sure many people would be surprised if any form of collecting non-user identifiable data would not end up taking place.

As far as having another free OS to choose from being a good thing, I don't view it as such but that's just my opinion. All it will be is another Linux distro, just Googleized. I agree it might draw some more attention to the capabilities of Linux which would be a good thing, but in that regard it also has the ability to cause the opposite and get a flock of users that adopt it and blindly believe it's all the greatness they need because Google made it - not because Linux itself is a fast lightweight OS.

Even if it is just a googalized linux distro, you are right, it does give visability to the average joe user because google is a well known brand. At the end of the day though, even the average maybe even non-technical user would be pretty clear on what OS they like to use and why....Each to their own and all that.

It will also depend heavily on how well google handle pre-bundled apps and the like when building the OS/distro.

Piers

msteinhilber wrote: »

I never have to wait for my computer to boot or my browser to start. Most of the people I support often ask me if there is harm in leaving their computer on all the time and when I mention that's what I do, they typically say they do as well and were just wondering..

I always shut my PC's down at night when I read the overnight power consumption is akin to running the microwave at 100% for 2-3 hours.. my wake up from hibernate takes a minute or two anyways

tiersten

Piers wrote: »

I always shut my PC's down at night when I read the overnight power consumption is akin to running the microwave at 100% for 2-3 hours.

An average 800W output microwave actually uses about 1300W when operating. Unless your PC is packed full of gear which is pegged at 100% all the time, it won't use that much.

msteinhilber

Piers wrote: »

I always shut my PC's down at night when I read the overnight power consumption is akin to running the microwave at 100% for 2-3 hours.. my wake up from hibernate takes a minute or two anyways

I still use power management to conserve energy, but even if I did not it would be nowhere near that amount of power usage.

apena7

Considering that it's Google, the OS will probably be labeled "Beta" for about 10 years....

tiersten

apena7 wrote: »

Considering that it's Google, the OS will probably be labeled "Beta" for about 10 years....

Nah. 5 years. They won't be labelling stuff perpetually as beta anyway now since they want to attract the business market more.

JockVSJock

Guys, looks like they setup a blog and they have some releases here:

Installing Google Chrome OS | Google Chrome Browser

I've d/l'ed and played around with it via VMWare. Looks like is based on SuSE Linux. The funny thing is that I can't get Google Chrome Browser to work, however Firefox works fine.