Anand's Thoughts on Google's Chrome OS
by Anand Lal Shimpi on December 8, 2010 6:23 PM ESTApps
Google’s Chrome web store is already fully functional and works with existing installations of the Chrome browser on Windows or Mac platforms. Chrome OS notebooks will run the very same apps.
These are web based apps however they can support an offline mode, choosing to sync data when an internet connection becomes available again. As I mentioned earlier, Google imposes stipulations on what can be published to the Chrome web store. The limitations are as follows:
Applications may not contain sexually explicit material, depict violent or bullying behavior, hate speech, impersonation or deceptive behavior, unauthorized publishing of personal and confidential information (no Wikileaks Chrome app I guess), infringe on intellectual property rights of others, engage in illegal activities, facilitate online gambling, contain malicious products (e.g. viruses, malware), violate third party terms of service or enable unauthorized download of streaming content or media. The full list is pretty well defined and there’s nothing too unusual.
Google, like most platform owners, is simply trying to keep the web store clean, legal and devoid of any harmful software.
Since these are all web based apps, you can not only sync your apps across multiple systems but all of your data within the apps. It’s currently all tied together using your Google account, so any Chrome notebook or Chrome browser instance that you give your Google account information to will have an up-to-date list of your apps, extensions and settings. Removing an app on one Chrome platform will remove it from all, automatically.
Document and data syncing should also seamless as everything is stored in the cloud. You ultimately have to entrust Google with everything but for those who feel comfortable doing so or who already do, it’s a definite benefit of the platform. By contrast, syncing applications and data across multiple PCs or Macs isn’t nearly as easy or as free.
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zodiacfml - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
Firstly, Anand presented the article nicely with good points that have nothing I disagree. I am sure, the OS will see success similar to netbooks or the Chrome browser, not for everybody, but works very well for some.Anyways, as JamaCheerio above, this will save me from being free support for many people regarding their machines. I could install this thing to people who only use a computer for getting online and also think that they're almost 90% of them.
For personal use, I could use this in an old or low end notebook/netbook which can support digital cameras(for travel purpose) which could be already in the plans of Google as many people update their online presence with pictures.
R3MF - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
i don't like it, and the failure of atom is not a failure of desktop OS's in light-weight platforms, fusion will fix that deficiency.MagmaTism - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
Just install the latest Ubuntu and Chrome to get a feel for the performance.I'm using a first Gen ATOM on my netbook, and the experience in Chrome feels faster than my 2.4GHz Core2Duo laptop. DOM animations are buttery smooth as is scrolling. The entire experience is blazing fast and doesn't make me want in any one area. It even handles flash content very well with smooth operation on full screen animations. The canvas also performs quite well as tested against the popular chrome experiments site and heavy Javascript apps like Google Documents load quickly and interaction has been flawless.
Let me say this again: On my first generation ATOM netbook, the experience is flawless.
I expect that not only will CR48 have superior hardware, but the OS will be far more optimized than mine is now, in addition to SSD which will further reduce latency and improve perceived performance. Added on top of this, is an iteration of V8 which improves performance even further, and increased GPU acceleration of website content.
Also, thanks to recent optimizations by Adobe, flash videos consume next to no CPU for 1080p video using GPU hardware.
I fully expect chrome OS to put more powerful notebooks running windows to shame from a user-experience standpoint -- not raw computation, of course.
TonyY001 - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
If apps can only be downloaded from the Chrome OS store how will companies build internal apps that they want to run on Chrome OS?iwodo - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
$400 is too expensiveiwodo - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
Why does the stupid Filter continue to NOT ALLOW ME TO POST and say I post SPAMShadowmaster625 - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
"The selling point behind a netbook is that it’s small, cheap and fast enough for browsing the web. The problem is a netbook isn’t fast enough for running the OS that you need to run in order to get access to the web."The selling point behind a netbook is not "small, cheap and fast enough". If that was the selling point then they would have a low budget low capacity SSD installed. But they dont. They ALL have craptastic 250+GB 5400rpm hard drives. Why? What good does it do to have 238 more gigabytes than you need to surf the web on Windows 7? These guys could very easily stuff a windows 7 installation onto 12GB, including hibernation space. And you only need a few extra gigs for "surfing the web". So why are there no 30-40GB SSD options on netbooks? I know exactly why. Because people dont think. They hear that stupid Intel jingle on tv 200 times a year for 15 years, then they mindlessly buy it or market it even though it is just a scam. And everyone falls for it. Where is the critical analysis? Why can I not go anywhere and buy a cheap "netbook" for "surfing the web" that has a logical storage solution? (ie 30 gb SSD, which costs maybe $10 more than a 250GB notecrap 5400rpm hard drive.) Instead we are all stuck with something that crashes the moment you jostle it.
Shadowmaster625 - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
Correction. I forgot about the plethora of craptastic 160GB 5400rpm hard drives.strikeback03 - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
Do the Windows 7 Starter TOS say anything about shipping with SSDs? Obviously more than 1GB of RAM would help too, but they don't do that often.aapocketz - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
AGREEDThe original eeepc netbook ran linux on a small low capacity SSD. Then people demanded windows and big HDDs, and now thats all they sell.
However, I am glad Google is willing to push the original eeepc type concept, and with their software knowledge they may be able to pull it off better than ASUS did. The included cellular radio may help sell it too. Just don't count on it. Sometimes I think google has the throw a bunch of crap on the wall to see what sticks approach to innovation.