Chrome OS
July 8th, 2009, 8:34am by MikeLate last night, Google announced that they’re developing Chrome OS, a lightweight, Linux-based OS that will be designed primarily for netbooks. The supposed advantages over conventional operating systems include a super-fast boot time directly into a browser, and “a new approach to security.”
Definitely a shot across Microsoft’s bow, with Windows 7’s release on the horizon, and the netbook community’s readiness to run Win7. Details are really scarce on the new OS, but I’m wondering how it’s different than Ubuntu or other Linux distributions, which their users can’t say enough good things about, but haven’t really caught on widely. You’ve got to imagine it’ll be more user-friendly. At any rate, it will definitely be a way to tie all of Google’s apps together, assuming that Gears will be baked in so that people will have seamless offline access to their online Mail, Docs, and Picasa accounts.
For a particularly bad summary, see this CNN article — particularly the last paragraph, where open-source software is described as “allows third-party developers to design compatible add-ons. (Think of the applications created for the iPhone or Facebook.)”
What do you guys think? I think it’s got a chance, as long as you’re already a user of Google apps. Being a non-Windows user, I wouldn’t have any particular reason to choose (and pay for) Windows on a just-for-fun computer like a netbook. I would think that most Windows users will want to stick with what they’re familiar with, though — I know that if I had a netbook and Apple decided to allow MacOS on netbooks, I would probably dump Chrome OS in a second, and I would think Windows users would feel the same way.
July 8th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I like Windows and I use my netbook as a full-featured Windows laptop, so I don’t think I’m the target audience. But I can see the appeal. Consider what I consider to be the major failing of the foleo– laptop form factor, but it didn’t have a browser capable of streaming video, multiple tabs, etc. The browser was the one thing that they HAD to get right. So imagine if you could put Firefox on the foleo. Suddenly, it’s not that lame.
I’m probably in Chrome about 70% of the time that I’m on a computer :), so a device that could do nothing except run Chrome could meet most of my needs. All things being equal, I’d of course opt for Windows for that other 30%, but I think the opportunity is on the devices that couldn’t run windows (or MacOS)– like ARM-based devices (like the Foleo was), rather than x86. You get far better battery life, less hardware intensive (so devices are lighter, smaller, etc). ‘Course, linux runs on that platform too, and therefore, Firefox could, in theory, so I’m not sure Google is offering anything better (except to Chrome die-hards). Bottom line, for an ARM-based netbook, I’d rather have an operating system capable of running Chrome than WebOS, iPhoneOS, or Android. Now if it were touch/tablet, that might be a different story…
July 8th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Ahh, it’s nice to have Fake Steve back. Check out his thoughts on Chrome OS.
July 8th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
But as soon as he leaves the room we all go “Chrome!” and just burst out laughing. I agree with a lot of what Fake Steve has to say. Linux on the Desktop has been around the corner for 10 years. The Web as the OS has been all the rage since Microsoft feared Netscape would destroy their Windows franchise. Remember all the stuff with the network PC in the late 90s?
I haven’t tried Chrome yet for a couple reasons, but even if it has advantages over Firefox, I have a hard time understanding how this will be so much different than Firefox on Ubuntu. Besides that, will MS charging about $30 to run Windows on a Netbook, I don’t think price is going to be a compelling reason for people to choose a Chrome Netbook over a Windows Netbook.
In short, I think Chrome OS will be as successful as Chrome the browser– which is still getting stomped by Firefox. I just don’t see why this will do any better than other Linux on the Desktop solutions.
July 8th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Like I said, I don’t think the competition is between a Windows netbook vs. a Chrome netbook. Windows owns x86. If it can run Windows, I don’t think the buying public will find a compelling reason to run anything else.
But there’s a lot of momemtum in the processor market about ARM-based processors that kill Atom in terms of power efficiency. Let’s assume that the beourgening market of ARM-based MIDs are going to take off. In that space, I like a Chrome netbook’s chances better than an Android netbook (or a WebOS netbook). Ubuntu on ARM could be a player, eventually, but I don’t think it should be considered a favorite at this point, even if it could run Firefox natively. It sounds like Google is emphasizing the right thing– nothing else matters as long as Chrome runs well.