Posted on 11/19/2009 8:08:38 PM PST by goldstategop
A radical new day has dawned for the operating system.
Today Google finally aired its long awaited Chrome Operating System. The operating system was detailed at a press conference starting at 1 p.m. EST, and the open source code was posted online just before the start of the presentation. The new operating system brings a dramatically different look and perspective to the market and just may give Microsoft and OS X some tough competition by reinventing a tired old wheel -- the operating system -- offering the first laptop/desktop OS built around the browser and web applications.
A Google engineer set the mood for the presentation announcing in the introduction, "Chrome is the foundation of everything we’re doing here."
According to Google, its Chrome browser has garnered 40 million users who use it as their primary browser. Google is already beating Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 browser by 30 percent in Javascript speed tests, according to the company (we confirm this claim in our browser benchmark series, parts 1, 2, 3, and 4). That success, in part, inspired Google to make the jump to the OS market. With the Chrome browser coming to Linux and OS X platforms, Google thought -- why not make a full Linux distribution built around the Chrome browser and web applications?
Google's Chrome OS is indeed built entirely around the company's browser. For that reason, it naturally uses HTML 5 to provide it with rich graphical content and other advanced programming content. HTML 5 is used for graphics, video/audio playback, threading, threads, notifications, real-time communication, and storage -- all critical factors to enabling games and productivity application.
The company is very enthused about both the netbook and tablet movements, as they have spawned cheap, full-featured internet devices, perfect for Google's web-app based model. Google says its OS is built for netbooks and tablets and is based on three principles -- "speed", "simplicity", and "security".
Where many Linux distributions use some form of multiple desktops, Google's OS instead uses multiple Windows -- each a Chrome browser, essentially. Each browser can have multiple web applications open simultaneously as tabs -- similar to PC-side applications in a standard operating system model. Ironically, the company's competitors, in this respect, may fuel the upcoming OS's success by their decision to release web apps -- one example of this is Microsoft, which recently released a web application version of Office. Describes Google, "Turns out, Microsoft Office launched a killer app for Chrome OS."
The browser window allows you to find files stored locally on your machine just like Windows Explorer or other file dialog windows. When you click to open them, though, rather than loading a stored application, it launches a web one. Media from attached devices such as Droid phones, pops up in a new tab and is displayed/played.
Another intriguing decision by Google is to only offer solid state drive netbooks in its upcoming Chrome OS models, soon to be released by its partners. Google says its goal is to make the computer feel like a TV -- with an "instant-on" aesthetic.
As far as security, woes of OS X and Windows will not be problems on Google OS, according to the company. It says that under its web application model no app is trusted, so the potential for system compromise is dramatically reduced. It should be interesting to see if that holds true in practice. While that seems unlikely, even if Google can simply reduce the rate of attacks/vulnerabilities, it may be on to something, though. The Chrome browser's track record thus far has been sterling, so its hard not to buy into Google's rhetoric for the time being.
Under the new OS, data is stored as read-only and is only able to be accessed by a small list of trusted apps which are signed and verified. Each app is run in its own sandbox. And user data is synced and backed up on Google's cloud (which may be an unsettling thought to some). Despite the privacy concerns, this means if you lose your netbook, you won't lose your data -- which is certainly a welcome development for anyone who has ever lost a laptop.
Google will launch Chrome OS netbooks in the holiday season 2010; tablets and laptops running Chrome OS will launch at a later date. Chrome's demo at the presentation was running on an Eee PC, so that seems one likely target. As mentioned, the upcoming hardware will feature SSDs and it will use 802.11n wireless cards, for now. For now developers can download test builds and work with them. Android apps should run on the OS, to the delight of the mobile OS's burgeoning developer community. The OS lacks a Silverlight plugin option currently. It can be run in virtual machines.
Overall, if there's one thing made clear by the launch to developers and Google's presentation, it's that Google is looking to drastically rethink the consumer operating system. Google drives this point home, stating, "We are trying to offer a choice for users. The model of computing we’re trying to advance is fundamentally different."
that was Ronald Reagan’s classic joke about Democrats.
My experience with Chrome (I have the latest beta) is that is is a poor browser, as compared with Firefox. No way to set multiple rows, or change tab size or color (i usually have about 80+ tbs open for research, 16 per row), or change much of any behavior, or save web page as .mht, or with the url, or save all the urls, all of which and far more can be done with FF and extensions (like TabMixPlus). Chrome extensions are few, but now there is a sessioon saver.
As for an OS in which no app is trusted, this means little customization.
The problem is not likely with the software, but hardware (bad or insufficient memory, weak PSU or HD?) or something software.
So I'm to trust Google with my search history and my data.
LOL!!
I have been using Google Chrome browser for months, and love it. There is a learning curve, as the UI is quite different from IE, but once you get past that, you will rock. In speed tests, Safari for windows is the fastest, Chrome is a very very close second, Firefox is a very distant third, and IE is a pig coming in last.
I tried Safari for Windows extensively, but it isn’t quite as user friendly as Chrome browser, so settled on Chrome.
I also own the new droid with the Android OS (I also owned the first Android phone, the G1). The droid is a great phone on the best network, and it is stoopid quick and very user friendly.
I have my old useless PC sitting around in a closet.
Maybe i’ll slap this OS on it and use it as a garage computer next spring.
All it would be used for anyways is mostly internet and music playing.
I`m running that developers version now on Ubunto,like
it so far.It`s very fast or seems so to me
There was an update to it last week
As opposed to trusting Microsoft with your data?
At least with Google Gears I can keep a copy of my data locally on my Linux desktop and keep it sync'd with the cloud so I can access it with my Palm Pre or a web browser on a PC in a library.
Unless you are running your own mail server your email already exists in a remote location. The only thing "the cloud" does is keep your data on multiple, sync'd systems to eliminate downtime.
So you're already using the cloud, or at least an early version of it.
Cloud computing reminds me of using a dumb terminal to connect to a PDP-11.
It feels like a step backwards to a world where big companies control the computing experience and users are nothing but accounts. Even though I do use a lot of cloud-based applications and use Amazon S3 for backup storage, the idea of losing control over my computer’s applications and data-storage decisions is worrisome.
Chrome OS is an interesting idea, but the idea of all apps being web apps was also Apple’s plan for the iPhone. That plan lasted a couple months before phones were jailbroken and Apple started making plans for the app store. Until network speeds equal disk I/O speeds, cloud based apps will continue to feel slower than desktop alternatives.
Unfortunately, Chrome OS feels like a crippled version of Ubuntu. It may work on a limited range of cheap hardware, but I’m not sure many people will be willing to live with those limitations.
Trusting MS with my data? I don’t have any .doc, .xls, etc, nor proprietary data kept “in sync” with my desktop with anybody’s “cloud”. That’s stands about as much chance in hell as it would with tax companies wanting me to upload my tax data to their company for submission.
Sure, I keep BS email accounts out there but anything else, forget it.
If you send email attachments, your data is already on someone else's system.
Your email is housed on someone else's system until you retrieve it. And even then it is often backed up on the mail server.
And even if you only transfer your data via floppy disk, you can still be at risk.
If your OS is provided by Microsoft, you don't know what they are doing with your data. With some technical background you can use some sniffing tools to make an informed guess, but due to the closed nature of the OS you really don't know.
Microsoft has been busted before for having their OS "phone home" and send data about you and your PC back to their systems.
And that's when everything is working as advertised. If you're running a Windows OS you have about a one in three chance of having some sort of malware installed on your system. Certain kinds of malware searches for logins and passwords to banking sites. Other kinds do keyword searches on your documents and uploads anything interesting to the bot master servers.
As a former network security professional, I'm much more content to encrypt and upload data to one of Google's servers in the cloud that I would be to allow Microsoft access to any of my data anywhere for any reason.
Ahh the cloud. A new name for a 70s idea that we’ve moved past. Sounds great all the way up until some guy running from the cops takes out an important poll and kills your internet.
My e-mails that matter are stored locally. Like all my data. The problem with clouds is the same problem dumb terminals have always had, one busted connection and all your computers are bricks until the main comes back up. Lose the internet, lose productivity. Using real computer when you lose the internet you tend to gain productivity (less screwing around at work).
Let me try to simplify my answer.
Nothing I send via email, except within the company I work for, contains any data that I’m concerned with.
I don’t concern myself with malware because of the steps I take to limit my exposure.
Physical security is the name of the game. Whether it’s my laptop, desktop or data (that will not be remotely stored on any 3d-party cloud) taking care of that is 90% of the battle.
“woes of OS X”? I like linux (typing from Mint) but I sure have no security or networking “woes” with my macbook running Snow Leopard. Nor’ did I with Leopard.
Is there a build of the Chrome Browser out where you can actually change font sizes without having to edit a .ini file? Stunning to me this feature wouldn’t work in alpha, let alone make it into beta without it working.
Sorry, i’ll keep everything on my own computer and never on somewhere online!!!
bleh!
Live by the network, die by the network.
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