Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Well google search changed history for sure. So did gmail to some extent and also there is google orkut which really changed the people in India and latin america. Google maps goes into that list also.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Orkut started as a small company that Google bought, and there are also enough Google projects that silently disappeared. Google is not your saint and savior you know.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

So, I should take down the Quad-Color Shrine? I was so sure...

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

So are you 100% happy with the "progress" in desktop OS's now? I, for one, am not.
No, that was three. Google Docs, Microsoft Office Live and ThinkFree are the only three that I've used... and that equals three.
Ah. Ok... gotcha.
Google makes more mistakes than most others; less than Microsoft though. As it stands, Google needs another hit after searching, ads and Gmail. Nothing else really has "stuck" - Jaiku lost to Twitter. They've closed other apps...
Nothing is world shattering about Maemo. Nothing is world shattering about Android. Nothing is world shattering about Ubuntu. Nothing is world shattering about most anything we use now.

But I would like to have some options. Something new. As it stands, being close-minded or allowing a group of closet geeks that have no clue to what other people may want, only know what they want... that's a loss.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Which is somewhat ironic specially considering Google is announcing an operating system which REDUCES options.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

How so? They bought Linux, Microsoft or Apple?

I think you totally misunderstood what I meant by "options".

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

I might :D .

You can already browse the web with any current operating system. But you can also run certain kinds of native applications.

Enter GoogleOS: you can browse the web, but you can't run native applications (that's the first "option" I'm talking about you lose).
Benefits? Nil.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

True. But as far as this goes... if this means that my older hardware around here - such as my OQO - can use this while I travel. It's an option to me.

I refuse to own a netbook, but this is an option.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Google has identified the right set of problems to solve, and I think they'll probably do a good job of it.

The significance is not about a browser on top of the frame buffer, it's about things like "we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work" (from the official announcement).

Regards,
Roger

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

What is not clear here is what about native applications (to run them on the underlying Linux).
This for 3D games and other processor eater applications.
If this is not allowed, how this OS is better than any other OS which has IE and Chrome and FireFox on it?
What about many C++ developers which do not know WebKit? Will they support the new OS?

Not sure if the benefits of no more patches is good enough to propell the OS, because patches OTA and automated install of SPs and firmwares should not create anymore problems on other OSs.

The interesting thing about this announcement is about the NEW WINDOWS system. So it is not linux classic xwindow anymore. What will this be? How revolutionary will be this new window system? Maybe is just a multi-touch window system with growing borders and captions when you want to rotate or drag or resize the windows , and I belive is a vectorial graphics window system. :)

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Because from the announcement they said nothing that would make it more than a Google branded linux web kiosk distro.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Well, considering how much development is done with Rails, I'd say you ought to include Ruby in the list.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

I think you're right.

For one thing, it could be the first device that uses Chrome OS.

Even if it doesn't, the development of web apps will be spurred by Google's actions, which can only benefit a keyboardless tablet intended primarily for web use.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Jaiku they basically strangled by making invite only. Gmail got big by promising large mailboxes where the users would never really need to delete a mail.

Docs is fighting what amounts to a RAD these days, and is to much for the casual user (notepad), to little for heavy users.

Maps however is doing ok on the mashups front.

I wonder however if they have a interesting thing going with dialcentral, at least if they go global, like skype...

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

There are no web or non-web development languages. There is only the relative measure of the (deserved or not) popularity of a certain language in web development. Yes, there are actually web frameworks for C(++) out there.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

It doesn't apply to you. So move on... not a big deal. It's like pitching Windows 7 to a diehard Linux user... you know it ain't gonna make a difference.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

from CNN citing businessInsider:
"Google's operating system could go the way of the Chrome Web browser -- which has turned out to be more of a niche product rather than a true rival to Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

"Google's browser initiative, Chrome, has been a fun little science project, but as a product it has been a flop," Blodget writes.

"The same can be said for almost all of Google's non-search products. If Google wants to have a chance at success in this business, it needs to focus on it with the same intensity it once put into search. This will be challenging for Google, which, for the last several years, has had the luxury of dabbling in whatever it pleases."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/07/08/google.chrome.os/

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

whisky tango foxtrot...

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Just came here to post that FUD from CNN.com... wow.

But... Texas Instrument is onboard - http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/g...ceably-absent/

As is Adobe.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

But who does it appeal to ? As seen with Xandros and the EEE making a nice simple launcher is not the holy grail on netbooks. Then... desktops ? The KISS principle is traditionally Mac land. So... economy class all-in-ones for those who rarely use computers and public terminals ? No matter how I turn it, I don't see WHERE will Google OS draw it's giant userbase from. Android I understood but this Google OS thing just doesn't fit the picture...

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

the problem with xandros, imo, was not the launcher, but the out of date firefox, and the flaming hoops one needed to jump to get a more recent one...

btw, i do wonder if one will be able to run docs thru gears without having a login...

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

It'll be lacking/incomplete on release like Chrome browser was. /sigh

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Who does it appeal to? Easy... the people that shun all of this KDE vs. Enlightenment vs. Gnome talk that is so pervasive here... in simpler terms, not many people in the audience here.

The average geek won't care about this. The busy person that wants to get off a plane, boot something instantly up, check e-mail, surf the web, revise a quick document, get back into standby, find their connecting plane without having to wait on a lengthy bootup, or disjointed and inefficient workflow.

I mean, why in the world are you asking me about something you truly don't give a damn about? I hate to sound aggressive; however explaining this is much like me listening to N900 announcements. I may be interested in the technology but I've already made my decision about it.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

funny enough, this was what foleo was all about, and it got slammed so hard by the press, palm cancled it on the eve of its launch, even tho devs who had gotten previews loved it...

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Naw, the Foleo required a phone for Internet access. It's a bit different since it was not all inclusive.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Yeah, I vividly remember the first Ars Technica review of the Foleo -- excitement turning to complete incredulity. If Palm had gotten this right... netbook history would have turned out quite differently!

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

The Foleo did not have a browser, and was based on something like Palm Garnet. Not exactly the same thing. It was more like a glorified PDA.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

iirc, foleo was linux based (wind river or something), had a browser (by opera iirc) and wifi.

the only big issue was the built in mail client, as it was only able to sync with a palm phone, not download directly...

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

funny that the foleo was mentioned as that was about the time I lost interest in 1src.com.
As far as that goes my n810 is so far past the abilities of my old Sony Clie that I am still amazed.
The fact that these devices can do all they do is amazing and I think that so many people here have lost sight of that.
And yes, the amount of money per month that is required to run an iPhone is rediculous for the party tricks it does!

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

funny that the foleo was mentioned as that was about the time I lost interest in 1src.com.
As far as that goes my n810 is so far past the abilities of my old Sony Clie that I am still amazed.
The fact that these devices can do all they do is amazing and I think that so many people here have lost sight of that.
And yes, the amount of money per month that is required to run an iPhone is rediculous for the party tricks it does!

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Has anyone asked them though? :)

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Also: Consider that, apart from video, the most reason people consider the current generation of tablets underpowered is BROWSING.

So why is Google convinced they're going to improve battery life by removing everything except the browser? He**, if that was true, I would have removed Notepad by now.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Hang on, I understand *I* am not the target audience but I *am* interested in the specifics, as I'm the guy friends, famility and coworkers ask for choices and I do want to give them the best option for THEIR uses. Chrome OS will be not be ASKED for, it will be GIVEN to it's users from what you say, and that's why more detailed info is needed for me not to consider it a variant of Knoppix Live with a G logo on it (with knoppix actually giving me the option to put up stuff from debian repos). The other issue is that those people often don't buy netbooks. Everybody survey says netbooks are more often secondary machines people already owning a desktop or a large notebook - are they wrong or has the user profile Google is aiming at yet to emerge ?

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

It is an option, I suppose, but I still don't see in what way it's a significantly better option than a stripped down Linux/*BSD/NT5.x system running a good web browser. I guess you save the overhead of X11; but unless you've got something a lot wimpier than an OQO, that's not really going to be a problem.

I guess every little bit helps, and since there are (currently, AFAIK) no full-featured browsers on svgalib or fbdev, the (presumably) fbdev-targeting Chromium build for this does look like a gain. But while that gains me a additional app to run in slackware or wherever, it in no way makes Chrome OS more compelling; I can still get all the gains with none of the downsides by pulling the browser out and dropping it in any fully capable OS. To me, while it does add an option, I can hardly see any use case where that option is an improvement.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

It's just starting, the information won't be more concrete until first quarter 2010. As it stands, it's not even on my list of things I'd fully consider yet. But it's something that does exist to make certain companies - *cough* Intel, Nokia, Microsoft *cough* - rethink their offerings perhaps see that they're shooting a bit off in the wrong directions.

It might be a Knoppix clone. It might be just a wrapper around a browser. But as it stands, if it boots in less than a minute, gives people the ability to use their e-mail/browser/whatever quickly, it'll become an option if the need is there - and it is.

And as far as netbooks go, people buy them for portability and limited functions. The ability for it to book quicker than now, is a welcome thing. And for the Google OS to be browser based... duh. NETbook... how is that not seen as THE REASON people would use it?

Face it... at the risk of sounding like a fanboy of any of it, it's still an option in an area that needs better options. I dislike netbooks, went with a Nokia Internet Tablet only to get no damn support after a year of owning each one bought. I'd like to have something that will be supported a bit longer.

And if that makes me an infidel, so be it. I don't mind saying the unpopular stuff. But if Google comes out with something, it'll make people think twice about putting something out,then abandoning it so quickly - if Google's there, there might be a market afterall. Just like online ads... or searching... having more than one option is good for the customer.

This whole "Maemo" will deliver us to the promise land is utter BS. It's changed directions so many times in the past, it's changing directions in the near future, and what we know so far, I now get why Nokia doesn't disclose a lot. It looks like they're confused - which I hope that they are not.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

JavaOS ;) this is just an evolution of scope of Android; a thin client (embedded client) with Web 2.0 interfacing (or SaaS) with each thread isolated from each other (for security) interfacing with Google services where profit lies in support, profiling, and targeted advertising.

It will be build on tons of existing open source software and technology, and nothing stops Nokia making Maemo interface with Ovi. If Ovi is competitive with such service while hosted in EU instead of US that is a big plus for me. However, this opens door for collaboration on other fronts. Nothing stops Google contributing to existing (sub)projects of Maemo; e.g. FreeDesktop.org standards.

IOW, it is not big (its an evolution to existing process, and the outcome will determine its effect on market), and it does not compete with Microsoft Windows clients (yet) in the way some media tend to report because Microsoft Windows is targetted at different hardware (client-wise: desktops, workstations, laptops), has different purposes, and has a bigger software ecosystem. Perhaps it will compete a bit with some Windows thin clients, but anyone still using Windows for thin clients is burning a lot of money into nothingness.

What might be big or not is Google's contributions to the FOSS ecosystem. That I see as part of the effect/outcome. So, we will see.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Maemo, as released by Nokia for a Nokia device, is optimized for Nokia and for Nokia devices. That is just how Android is optimized for a certain device and mobile carrier. If Google also uses Linux as underlying basis, and does not use Android (pseudo Java) and instead uses many embedded Linux components they will need certain Linux software also used by Maemo and Moblin. So we might see collaboration then.

Even then, a netbook is a way to use the Internet. A smartphone is a way to use the Internet. A laptop is a way to use the Internet. Each device has their positive and negative aspects. And the software must be optimized for the advantages the hardware delivers (it is embedded; therefore many design decisions take place) and vice versa.

So it is not true that a 'netbook sucks' or 'smartphone is better than laptop'. All utter nonsense. It depends on how you are able to take advantage of the combination of software, hardware, and service provided by the end product. It is also not true there is no demand for both laptops, desktops, smartphones, netbooks, and so on because each device has its unique advantages in certain situations.

What will decide popularity and success is many things. Brand recognition (both Nokia and Google have this), time to market, stability and ease of use, word to word marketing. Not necessarily the best product becomes the most popular or defacto standard.

But Nokia does not look confused. They go on with making devices for specific purposes (Nokia phones) where hardware is optimized for specific markets. Meanwhile they open source Symbian and switch to Qt, while using Linux and open source ecosystems to build upon. They will continue to build many Nokia devices each made for specific purposes (optimization) but want to use underlying standards to make software ecosystem easier to manage and allow community support after device is EOL. So then users will be able to use a device like N95 (former flagship; still good device, but getting old) with up2date 3rd party firmware instead of stuck with older firmware. This increases customer satisfaction, and Nokia still sells their hardware becuae their hardware 1) is specialized 2) gets better.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

Even though it will be open source, I'm guessing it will have targeted hardware or at least a compact list of compatible devices, because if stuff like WiFi, audio and suspend-to-RAM don't work immediately it will fail. Otherwise, it could be "real big" and the open source community will pick up the slack as usual. And after my parent's last virus call, I might finally have something that I would bother forcing on them.

Re: Google announces chrome OS. This is real big!
 

I left the original distro that it came with in an unused partition and installed mandriva and it works really well, so it's not limited in function.

Suspend to ram works pretty well, resuming is a matter of seconds.
A full boot doesn't take that long either (88 seconds from flipping the switch to a fully booted kde4 desktop).