Why should I care about Google Chrome OS?
 

If I wanted a lightweight OS, I would rather choose another linux distro, than some overblown webrowser. Google, you get a pat on the back for Android...but I'm not impressed with Chrome. But something tells me this will be the iPhone of OS's...

Re: Why should I care about Google Chrome OS?
 

I didn't mind the idea of the users OS being kept in a cloud-based style, yet people with bandwidth restrictions might have problems with that.

It has potential though, especially for netbooks. Though isn't google bundling their browser into the OS core the same way MS did with IE and got sued for it? Hohoho...

Re: Why should I care about Google Chrome OS?
 

Possibly, but I doubt it.

It seems designed specifically for the netbook (and Google is only supporting specific netbook configurations although others could extend it by writing drivers). I can see it becoming the default Linux distro for really cheap netbooks but I see the Linux netbook losing out to the Win7 netbook.

It's a question of what people are used to (the browser versus Windows) and what people will want to do with their netbook. The netbook seems to be going down the road of being a cheap, light, and slow laptop. If this is how people view it, Win7 will win. For Chrome to win, Google will have to convince people that they can and want to stay in the cloud and that may be too much of a conceptual leap.

Re: Why should I care about Google Chrome OS?
 

You should care, because it's an underhanded ploy to take away people's control over their own computers. There's no reason a real Linux distro couldn't ship with a simple user interface, but just like Apple they want to control and monitor what you do. Google just can't afford to look evil, so they have to do it by breaking compatibility and making things physically impossible rather than using closed platforms.

Re: Why should I care about Google Chrome OS?
 

its definatly geared towards the netbook, but i feel like I'm loosing more OS than gaining. why would i choose this over the other lightwieght options?

yeah but were talking about Google, Gmail, Gtalk, Google Maps, Youtube, Wave...

Re: Why should I care about Google Chrome OS?
 

Nonsense. Chrome is not Android. It's completely open source. The only thing Google is doing is limiting their development of drivers. If you want to write the drivers you can put Chrome on almost anything. Saying they are evil because they break compatibility is like saying the rest of the Linux distros are evil because they aren't compatible with my Tablet PC. It's not evil, it's a matter of priorities and time.

Once and for all, Google doesn't care about controlling your computer (or your phone). They just want you on the web and not on your desktop. Chrome facilitates that. You can access Yahoo Mail through Chrome; you can look up addresses on MapQuest; you can even search with Bing. But Google is confident that once you get to their part of the web you will stay because they offer a better product. And they do.

The reason that another Linux distro hasn't shipped with a simple user interface is that you haven't written it and neither has anyone else. Google did and they should be applauded.


P.S. I just checked again and my statement on the TabletPC, while it has been correct for years, may be out of date. The Linux Wacom Project put out a release which added E2 and E3 support about a month ago. Then again, it was an independent group that wrote the drivers, not Ubuntu or RedHat (or Google).

Re: Why should I care about Google Chrome OS?
 

That's just the problem! Their cloud products are better than the rest, so the competition they fear is from OpenOffice etc. If they just wanted to produce a simple Linux GUI, they could've done so on top of a normal distro. How is wanting me on the web rather than the desktop not wanting to control my computer?

And this isn't about us, but the average user, who will suddenly have much less options available if he starts using Chrome OS computers. And he'll happily go along with it because it's shiny and it says Google on the lid.

Imagine trying to compete with MS Office if you couldn't even offer your replacement for free, but would have to set up a professional server farm just to offer your product. This cloud computing fad needs to be stopped now.

Re: Why should I care about Google Chrome OS?
 

Because it's simple and easy. There are many (most?) people out there who only know of root as the part of a plant that's underground. Even amongst those who recognize computer terms such as root, many don't want it.

If all you want to do is be connected to the Internet, why have everything that goes with a full Linux distro, however lightweight. Puppy Linux is one of the easiest distros I have run across. But once you get through the configuration you see the main screen. What do you see? File, Help, those I think most people would understand, but Mount? Console? FD0? SDA1? SR0? Not to mention all those program icons that you're not going to be using if you live in the cloud.

To look at it another way, take a desktop computer. Desktop computers are very easy to build assuming you can use a screwdriver. You can determine exactly what you need and what you don't need and put together a computer that fits you perfectly. So why doesn't everybody do that? Because it's simpler and easier to go to a store and say "I'll take that one."

Re: Why should I care about Google Chrome OS?
 

Imagine competing with T-Mobile if you had to build your own cell phone towers. This mobile phone fad needs to be stopped now.

Re: Why should I care about Google Chrome OS?
 

I would love to have something like Chrome OS for the computer in my kitchen. Let's see, I have Win7 gadgets for weather and stock market updates, calculator, Google Calendar, and general web browsing running on a Dell Mini7. ChOS would be an ideal replacement for Win7 (Which actually works pretty well.)

Jim