Today we are open-sourcing the project as Chromium OS. We are doing this early, a year before Google Chrome OS will be ready for users, because we are eager to engage with partners, the open source community and developers. As with the Google Chrome browser, development will be done in the open from this point on. This means the code is free, accessible to anyone and open for contributions. The Chromium OS project includes our current code base, user interface experiments and some initial designs for ongoing development. This is the initial sketch and we will color it in over the course of the next year.
I like the idea, I just dont like how my web life is being controlled by google.
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MYK - Supports Arizona to democtratically pass laws for the state of Arizona
Rudy was the only hope in 08
2011 Election: Cons 40% - Nanos 38% Ekos 34%
What a joke. They decry the need for a conventional operating system, but conveniently ignore the fact that we have advanced operating systems to support things modern browsers require such as:
- accelerated graphics for rich GUI's that perform well
- low latency, high def audio
- font and typography management
- a standardized IO and HID input model to support customer choices in input devices
- multithreading & multitasking
- virtual memory
- private/public key and certificate management
- code signing and encryption
- filesystems, ACL's, etc.
- printing subsystems
- localization and internationalization
- power management
- accessibility for disabled users
- many other system services and libraries
I don't understand this whole cloud idea. What if you can't login to the Internet? What's wrong with having stuff saved on your HD? Google seems to be making a gamble about where the computer is going, and missing out on where it is.
Putting that much faith into the stability and performance of ISP's like Telus/Shaw/Bell is a terrifying proposition.
This is an interesting idea that will, in all probability, be destined to be a niche OS like Linux. (Even though it won't be their fault.)
Definitely a niche OS. I see it being primarily for secondary computers. Also, the OS will be on google approved hardware, so that controls what it will be on. Would be great for a travel computer (except i use my travel laptop to store photos).
Interesting, but definitely won't be replacing the traditional OS anytime soon.
Definitely a niche OS. I see it being primarily for secondary computers. Also, the OS will be on google approved hardware, so that controls what it will be on. Would be great for a travel computer (except i use my travel laptop to store photos).
Interesting, but definitely won't be replacing the traditional OS anytime soon.
Yeah, I was just reading that its only for "Google approved" hardware, and part of that approval is no hard drive.
So it's not for anyone who owns say, an iPod or a digital camera.
...Or for anyone that doesn't have guaranteed network connectivity, so I'm not sure its great for traveling either. Unless you love launching all your apps at 3g network speeds, I guess...
All in all, much ado about nothing, at least for the next couple of years, during which time, full function computers will continue to evolve with richer and richer functionality, once again making us wonder why we want a network appliance like this when we can have a "real PC"
"[Netscape will soon reduce Windows to] a poorly debugged set of device drivers." 1995, Marc Andreessen
So long as they have USB drives you might be able to plug in hard drives. Who knows - it makes sense from googles perspective, then again I am not sure I trust a company where web searches can show what is in someones personal email.
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MYK - Supports Arizona to democtratically pass laws for the state of Arizona
Rudy was the only hope in 08
2011 Election: Cons 40% - Nanos 38% Ekos 34%
I read somewhere that the initial idea behind this is for the netbook user initially.
Someone who does very little on their computers besides using the internet almost initially upon startup.
Maybe I am wrong though.
Ding, ding, ding. That's exactly what this is. It's a lightweight OS for casual computer users who don't need heavy business applications. It will never replace a conventional OS, but it will not be a niche OS either. Hardware is so cheap now, and getting cheaper. I have a netbook for travelling, and I'd love to put the Chrome OS on it, especially since it's a slow PoS that takes forever to crank up XP. I'll still keep my workstation and laptop running XP Pro with Visual Studio, SQL Server, and my GIS software.
Photos, iPods etc..... easy to solve. As long as there is driver support for peripherals, you manage your files and libraries on the web.... I guaran-fricken-tee that Chrome OS will let you hook up a camera and manage your photos using Picassa.
The computers won't be harddrive-less, obviously. They will use flash drives. You need to hold the OS somewhere, and they want it to be always-on. If you have enough flash space, you can store other stuff there too.
It will not be a niche OS, it will be a mainstream OS for the kind of users who don't do anything that isn't online. For example, teenagers. It isn't going to replace Windows in the office, but I don't think it's intended to.
Last edited by Mad Mel; 11-19-2009 at 05:58 PM.
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Meet Google Chrome... the OS.
