Comments on: A dissection of the Google Chrome OS press release http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/ All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:43:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Chrome OS beta available for download (not by Google) | ithinkdifferent http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/comment-page-1/#comment-5210 Chrome OS beta available for download (not by Google) | ithinkdifferent Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:46:22 +0000 http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/#comment-5210 [...] as a free virtual appliance as well as a live CD image. So, give it a shot while you wait for the real deal to be delivered and let us know how it goes! You can also give these Google Chrome OS alternative [...] [...] as a free virtual appliance as well as a live CD image. So, give it a shot while you wait for the real deal to be delivered and let us know how it goes! You can also give these Google Chrome OS alternative [...]

]]> By: Imran Hussain http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/comment-page-1/#comment-2627 Imran Hussain Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:17:34 +0000 http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/#comment-2627 You're welcome :) You’re welcome :)

]]> By: bob http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/comment-page-1/#comment-2604 bob Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:15:44 +0000 http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/#comment-2604 i think you are all missing the mark a bit. No, i don't think MS will be shaking in its boots for the general desktop market.. You make in your article/post a lot of affirmations like "Speed, simplicity and security already exist". Er, we could easily have more of each. -It could boot up in < 10 seconds from off.. -everything preconfigured, no need to install codecs, browsers, etc etc. you could even have virtual logon (er, gmail account anyone?) where you could log on at any PC, and then you would have all your apps, settings, shortcuts, background, etc, right there. -no viruses. no malware. no need for these programs. And er, its based on linux. which most people don't use yet. (do i even need to say its more secure?) And if you are saying 'you can get all this with existing linux distros'.. ubuntu could be argued to hit 2/3 but its a hog, like most distros. Faster ones tend to lose simplicity. The only one i'd say was close to hitting 3/3 is Puppy linux, but.. even then a simple driver not found and your in a world of hurt. The simple addition of the massive Google brand is enough to give it a competitive advantage alone. and more users leads to better software. I agree the statement that current OS-s were designed when there was no web is ridiculous; it was windows 95 when Bill Gates had his 'epifany' re: the internet; going as far as making the browser so intertwined with the OS that it was unremovable (starting with v2 of w95, only just ending with 7!). So that was windows '4'. I think google may have put it better by saying the assumption (requirement?) of the web was not there. "..sadder when they realize the operating system might not have a music player, video player, image viewer, bundled applications for everyday use like a calculator, screenshot tool, ftp software, PDF viewer, games, no desktop office suite ( Google Docs and Zoho suck [..]) and many many more." Well, Chrome can already do all of what you talk of with a few plugins. Hell, even the search engine has a calculator. Sounds like they need to work on google docs.. any basic online app missing will be quickly created by the community online or google themselves when there is a userbase. A web app calculator is a bit of a gimmick right now... every OS has one. For a good idea of what i think Chrome OS will be like-- http://www.embeddingwindows.com/intro.html ^w98 stripped bare with ie5 as a shell. ~20MB. FF could be used instead with minimized windows' (winimize.com, or Xp micro @ torrents). All google is doing is an updated, linux/Chrome version of this, that will support web apps. They are making the browser the OS, as far as the user is concerned. What they SHOULD do however, or deveop it in to, is.. to have an online App database (open or chosen by google), which is searchable, and you can link to the apps from your desktop, menu, etc. Then you just click them, and they run, as if locally, with the bulk of processing done off in the google cloud. This would be 'proper' apps-- Firefox, Gimp, VLC, etc. No installs, minimum requirements could be made obselete, saved config, accessible on any PC.. But perhaps we don't have the bandwidth right now for that online.. it could work great on a large wired network. Maybe a hybrid is required-- but these kind of apps should definately be run-able on chrome, [today's] web apps only will force it into a niche (maybe that is what they are aiming at) of netbook-esq 'PC-lite', rather than 'works exactly how i want it', general purpose, machine.. -- if they do not, it won't be hard to do, i imagine, once it is open-sourced.. if not before "Well, I’m not sure how Google ‘benefits’ from giving away a free operating system." Wah?!?! this ties potentially pretty much everything google has ever worked on together. When the user turns on their computer; Chrome will be there. I bet the google homepage will be there too, and not too many people will change it. Chrome OS users will undoubtedly be google users. The more the internet is used the more money google makes from ads. Secondly, it breaks (or starts to) the reliance on microsoft; whilst Google (may or) may not be interested in the OS market in itself.. MS is interested in Google's Pie also (bing?) and if MS is less dominant on the desktop, the less leverage it has on that. If windows was superceded, do you really think MS would survive providing online search? Besides which, getting a foot in the OS market is never a bad plan. The control/power of that is worth a lot. The expertise, market share and experience worth a lot too-- could all be taken advantage of in the future. They could charge OEMs a small fee to have it preinstalled perhaps, if it caught on. Google has a pretty good track record of making lots of money by offering services free to the consumer.. i think you are all missing the mark a bit. No, i don’t think MS will be shaking in its boots for the general desktop market..
You make in your article/post a lot of affirmations like “Speed, simplicity and security already exist”. Er, we could easily have more of each.
-It could boot up in < 10 seconds from off..
-everything preconfigured, no need to install codecs, browsers, etc etc. you could even have virtual logon (er, gmail account anyone?) where you could log on at any PC, and then you would have all your apps, settings, shortcuts, background, etc, right there.
-no viruses. no malware. no need for these programs. And er, its based on linux. which most people don't use yet. (do i even need to say its more secure?)
And if you are saying 'you can get all this with existing linux distros'..
ubuntu could be argued to hit 2/3 but its a hog, like most distros. Faster ones tend to lose simplicity.
The only one i'd say was close to hitting 3/3 is Puppy linux, but.. even then a simple driver not found and your in a world of hurt.
The simple addition of the massive Google brand is enough to give it a competitive advantage alone. and more users leads to better software.

I agree the statement that current OS-s were designed when there was no web is ridiculous; it was windows 95 when Bill Gates had his 'epifany' re: the internet; going as far as making the browser so intertwined with the OS that it was unremovable (starting with v2 of w95, only just ending with 7!). So that was windows '4'. I think google may have put it better by saying the assumption (requirement?) of the web was not there.

"..sadder when they realize the operating system might not have a music player, video player, image viewer, bundled applications for everyday use like a calculator, screenshot tool, ftp software, PDF viewer, games, no desktop office suite ( Google Docs and Zoho suck [..]) and many many more."
Well, Chrome can already do all of what you talk of with a few plugins. Hell, even the search engine has a calculator. Sounds like they need to work on google docs.. any basic online app missing will be quickly created by the community online or google themselves when there is a userbase. A web app calculator is a bit of a gimmick right now… every OS has one.

For a good idea of what i think Chrome OS will be like– http://www.embeddingwindows.com/intro.html
^w98 stripped bare with ie5 as a shell. ~20MB. FF could be used instead with minimized windows' (winimize.com, or Xp micro @ torrents). All google is doing is an updated, linux/Chrome version of this, that will support web apps. They are making the browser the OS, as far as the user is concerned.

What they SHOULD do however, or deveop it in to, is..
to have an online App database (open or chosen by google), which is searchable, and you can link to the apps from your desktop, menu, etc. Then you just click them, and they run, as if locally, with the bulk of processing done off in the google cloud. This would be 'proper' apps– Firefox, Gimp, VLC, etc. No installs, minimum requirements could be made obselete, saved config, accessible on any PC..
But perhaps we don't have the bandwidth right now for that online.. it could work great on a large wired network. Maybe a hybrid is required– but these kind of apps should definately be run-able on chrome, [today's] web apps only will force it into a niche (maybe that is what they are aiming at) of netbook-esq 'PC-lite', rather than 'works exactly how i want it', general purpose, machine.. — if they do not, it won't be hard to do, i imagine, once it is open-sourced.. if not before

"Well, I’m not sure how Google ‘benefits’ from giving away a free operating system."
Wah?!?! this ties potentially pretty much everything google has ever worked on together. When the user turns on their computer; Chrome will be there. I bet the google homepage will be there too, and not too many people will change it. Chrome OS users will undoubtedly be google users. The more the internet is used the more money google makes from ads. Secondly, it breaks (or starts to) the reliance on microsoft; whilst Google (may or) may not be interested in the OS market in itself.. MS is interested in Google's Pie also (bing?) and if MS is less dominant on the desktop, the less leverage it has on that. If windows was superceded, do you really think MS would survive providing online search?
Besides which, getting a foot in the OS market is never a bad plan. The control/power of that is worth a lot. The expertise, market share and experience worth a lot too– could all be taken advantage of in the future. They could charge OEMs a small fee to have it preinstalled perhaps, if it caught on.
Google has a pretty good track record of making lots of money by offering services free to the consumer..

]]> By: Mohamed Elsherif http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/comment-page-1/#comment-2586 Mohamed Elsherif Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:51:14 +0000 http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/#comment-2586 I can't agree with you more, thanks for the great post I can’t agree with you more, thanks for the great post

]]> By: A dissection of the Google Chrome OS press release | UK Web Designer http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/comment-page-1/#comment-2578 A dissection of the Google Chrome OS press release | UK Web Designer Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:15:28 +0000 http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/#comment-2578 [...] the original post:  A dissection of the Google Chrome OS press release Categories: Computer, Computer Security, Internet Tags: article, Computer Science, [...] [...] the original post:  A dissection of the Google Chrome OS press release Categories: Computer, Computer Security, Internet Tags: article, Computer Science, [...]

]]> By: RSS Grabber » What’s happenning on the web? Find your information here!"> http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/comment-page-1/#comment-2576 RSS Grabber » What’s happenning on the web? Find your information here!"> Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:09:55 +0000 http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/#comment-2576 [...] Facial recognition. The access privileges in the iPhone will be controlled using this technology. A dissection of the Google Chrome OS press release – ithinkdiff.com 07/09/2009 Google Chrome OS has created a lot of hype since yesterday, even [...] [...] Facial recognition. The access privileges in the iPhone will be controlled using this technology. A dissection of the Google Chrome OS press release – ithinkdiff.com 07/09/2009 Google Chrome OS has created a lot of hype since yesterday, even [...]

]]> By: Paul http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/comment-page-1/#comment-2572 Paul Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:45:43 +0000 http://www.ithinkdiff.com/a-dissection-of-the-google-chrome-os-press-release/#comment-2572 Great post Imran. I definitely agree with many of your points. This definitely isn't an OS X or Windows killer as much of the tech media makes it out to be, but rather something that's useful for a mere minority of people who buy netbooks *only* to get online. Maybe they don't have that much space on their netbook so they want a slim operating system that allows them to browse the web. Although, it probably does have support for many of those features, but perhaps through an online service such as Google Docs for example. Whatever the case though, like you said I'm sure many would be happier with Ubuntu, for example. Great post Imran. I definitely agree with many of your points. This definitely isn’t an OS X or Windows killer as much of the tech media makes it out to be, but rather something that’s useful for a mere minority of people who buy netbooks *only* to get online. Maybe they don’t have that much space on their netbook so they want a slim operating system that allows them to browse the web.

Although, it probably does have support for many of those features, but perhaps through an online service such as Google Docs for example. Whatever the case though, like you said I’m sure many would be happier with Ubuntu, for example.

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