Google's Chrome OS revealed

[Si Veteran]

its a cloud computing OS. what if google servers go down..you cant work offline as well? no files are stored on the computer. FAIL

Nah, he said it would have a local 'cache' too.

They better let people have private cloud servers too - then it would rule!

[guruparan]

Chrome OS is nothing but web application. "It can't change files on your hard disk." - quote from engadget

:(

Nah, he said it would have a local 'cache' too.

They better let people have private cloud servers too - then it would rule!

Local 'cache' but even that will be saved in cloud!!

[maash]

Chrome OS is nothing but web application. "It can't change files on your hard disk." - quote from engadget

:(

precisely, web apps are all good. but desktop apps can do much more. What if you don't have internet access. What do I do if i travel on a plane with no web, what if I go to some place with no internet connection, it will render the OS useless.

[Syanide]

And why are people disappointed. It was announced as a cloud OS, and look -- WE GOT A CLOUD OS! :shocking face:

They're not looking to replace the desktop, they're looking beyond it.

To me, this sounds perfectly reasonable for people who do most of their work online.

As for the others, you have Windows, Mac, Linux...

[MikeChipshop Member]

Local 'cache' but even that will be saved in cloud!!

Other way round.

[maash]

Nah, he said it would have a local 'cache' too.

They better let people have private cloud servers too - then it would rule!

local cache is for web apps. What if you want to work offline when you don't have web access which happens ALOT...you can only connect to your document which is on the web....This is all nice but its useless unless we have web access freely available everywhere at DSL speeds atleast

[Rudy]

Looks like a great OS for a netbook.....or a VM on a PC but not a main OS on a PC

[Axel]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/19/googles...me-os-revealed/

[Syanide]

precisely, web apps are all good. but desktop apps can do much more. What if you don't have internet access. What do I do if i travel on a plane with no web, what if I go to some place with no internet connection, it will render the OS useless.

Then you obviously don't need this and you should use Windows/Mac/Linux! :shocking face #2:

[maash]

Then you obviously don't need this and you should use Windows/Mac/Linux! :shocking face #2:

precisely. its useless unless we have more web access than verizon's 3g coverage

[what]

If you can save to your own cloud (i.e. your main home PC or server) then I can sort of see the point, but I don't like the idea of saving everything to a server you haven't got any physical access to.

[George P Global Moderator]

You guys thought it'd be more? Heh. It's a linux kernel for hardware I/O basically, and the shell instead of being something like KDE or Gnome is a tweaked Chrome window with some extra stuff. It's going to run basically any Web apps you probably use now, which is fine yeah, but uhhh, what about all the apps people use that aren't up on the web?

If all you wanna do is look at websites and other normal net stuff, this is fine I suppose. But imo the facts don't match the hype.

[Syanide]

You guys thought it'd be more? Heh. It's a linux kernel for hardware I/O basically, and the shell instead of being something like KDE or Gnome is a tweaked Chrome window with some extra stuff. It's going to run basically any Web apps you probably use now, which is fine yeah, but uhhh, what about all the apps people use that aren't up on the web?

If all you wanna do is look at websites and other normal net stuff, this is fine I suppose. But imo the facts don't match the hype.

What facts, and what hype. They promised a cloud OS, and seems to me they delivered nothing more and nothing less than a cloud OS. I don't remember anything about them talking about taking over the destkop OS market, this is a whole different thing. In a lot of ways, this is the future.

Personally, I might *try* this, but I won't be using it since my internet is crap, and I'm not always online. But for people who do mostly web work, and need only web apps, this is awesomeness.

[Rob2687]

Yeah...it seems like when people heard the "OS" part some people automatically went so far as to think that we'd see something that would go head to head with Windows or OSX.

[maash]

Yeah...it seems like when people heard the "OS" part some people automatically went so far as to think that we'd see something that would go head to head with Windows or OSX.

except Chrome OS is not an OS. its a Browser System not an Operating System

[tdrock]

Google had a low-key event today to preview Chrome OS, its new operating system based on Linux and the Chrome browser. Things are still pretty early -- it's not even in beta yet, let alone on shipping products -- but that's the first official screen shot right there, and the big features are all roughed out. The entire system is web-based and runs in the Chrome browser -- right down to USB drive contents, which show up in a browser tab, and the notepad, which actually creates a Google Docs document. Web apps are launched from a persistent apps panel, which includes Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and Hulu, among others, and background apps like Google Talk can be minimized to "panels" that dock to the bottom of the screen. Local storage us just used to speed up the system -- everything actually lives in the cloud, so all it takes to swap or borrow machines is a login, and you're good to go. Google also said it's "very committed" to Flash, and that it's looking to hardware accelerate whatever code it can -- although Google didn't have a solid answer to give when asked about Silverlight. Overall, Google was upfront in saying that Chrome OS is focused on very clear use cases for people who primarily use the web, and that it's not trying to do everything: "If you're a lawyer, editing contracts back and forth, this will not be the right machine for you."

As far as going to market, Google's not talking details until the targeted launch at the end of next year, but Chrome OS won't run on just anything -- there'll be specific reference hardware. For example, Chrome OS won't work with standard hard drives, just SSDs. That means you won't be able to just download Chrome OS and go, you'll have to buy a Chrome OS device approved by Google. Interesting move, for sure -- but since the entire OS is totally open-source as of today, we're sure it'll be hacked onto all kinds of hardware soon enough. (And for the record, the demo was run on an off-the-shelf Eee PC.) Check Google's intro videos after the break!

Link - video as well

[MikeChipshop Member]

personally i never expected to see it compete with Windows/OSX/Linux etc but what i expected was a cloud based OS, being one that is completely dependent on the cloud.

Of course those with bad internet connections wouldn't be advised to use this.

EDIT: 1000 posts woooo

[Rob2687]

These people in the Q&A session really want Android apps running on this.

[MikeChipshop Member]

These people in the Q&A session really want Android apps running on this.

Yeah it seems to be quite a recurring question.

[maash]

looking at the video it seems the "installed programs" are just Bookmarks to web apps

[.Neo]

Check the screenshots, one of them has an web app menu, you can see Yahoo mail there.

That's not what I mean. They're showcasing those pop-up windows / sidebar things for IM etc.. How do those work?

It's funny though. With this OS installed you can't do anything with your computer if (temporarily) don't have an internet connection.

[Elliott]

Seems really nice. :D Web apps are becoming the future, and with things like Google Gears and (more importantly) HTML5 client-side storage, the whole "I can't access my data on the go" is a thing of the past.

[Crompee]

That's not what I mean. They're showcasing those pop-up windows / sidebar things for IM etc.. How do those work?

It's funny though. With this OS installed you can't do anything with your computer if (temporarily) don't have an internet connection.

You'll be limited compared to a windows machine when offline but not completly useless:

Users will be able to listen to music and read eBooks without an internet connection, for example, as well as accessing files stored on USB flash drives. Any application that supports HTML5's offline mode will also be accessible without a net connection.

[maash]

You'll be limited compared to a windows machine when offline but not completly useless:

you know how long it took for the web to adopt HTML4? how long will EACH website take to implement HTML5 and on top of that thier OFFLINE mode. It is completely pointless what if you are in a place where you need to complete a document for a meeting tommorow. Online Browsers don't have HALF the functionality of a desktop browser. What if I want to play movie on VLC and not just what is on the chrome OS. cant do that. What if I want to use skype on this..cant do it. What if I want to edit a movie..cant do it.

someone asked: What if a web service goes down. The answer: "well if it goes down it goes down for everyone"

LOL so fail

[Fred Derf Veteran]

I still see people making Linux references and distro comparisons. I have seen nothing to date that suggests this will run any off-the-shelf Linux applications. It is a web browser that is designed to use web apps. The application panels are actually browser extensions and not true applications in the standard sense.

I suppose the last thing they'll have to work on will be the printing system.