Rumour: ‘Google Chrome OS’ In The Works For Netbooks

I still think its goofy to not partner with Ubuntu or some main stream open source Linux distro. Ubuntu supports so much in terms of hardware, can be very light weight and the objections that many have had to it in the netbook world could likely have all of their problems addressed by a company with so much influence (i.e. iTunes for Linux)

dmritard96

@phor11: Oh, but didn't you hear? PC Gaming is dead anyway!

raptorrapture

Didn't MS get (antitrust) nailed for integrating their web browser with their OS, and now Google comes out with an OS named the exact same thing as their browser?!

I'm no MS fan but that's really unfair. The government really crippled MS's ability to merge the two mediums way back then and now Google is laughing at MS for using an antiquated OS model.

Paul

i really dont know if i like the whole internet-centric design... in theory it sounds good, but i've never had the best luck with the internet. what i mean, is that when i'm on wi-fi, sometimes the connection will drop for unknown reasons, or my speed will slow way down (wifi or cable) and just little annoyances like that. sure, for the most part, everything is working fine, but i feel like this would mean that if you're having internet trouble, now you're also having OS trouble.... nobody reads the comments all the way back here anyway

shorty6049

@boilslaw:

"Cloud" computing is where all your data and programs are on a server somewhere else. you connect to them over the internet, and the servers do all the work for your computer. kinda like outsourcing.

detraya

Many have tried before to push Linux mainstream... it's unlikely Google will have a different result. Their heads are just too big to realize this.

Joe St. Louis

@glamajamma: Considering the analogy was specifically comparing the 360, Wii, and PS3, and not MS, Nintendo, and Sony as companies, I think you're going back too far.

Plus, if we're going back farther than that, Nintendo was out of the top spot way longer than 2 years; both the PS1 and the PS2 dominated Nintendo's offerings of the time, and the SNES was neck-and-neck with the Genesis.

HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.

@HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.:

I don't think you are going back far enough, there was a time when the only thing keeping Nintendo relevant was the gameboy because no one wanted the gamecube. 2 years of success in the volatile world of gaming doesn't make you an enterprise.

glamajamma

@Yanguang: As long as you play Quake Live, then yes, it can.

Otherwise I wouldn't hold your breath.

@Jonathan Moll: Lightweight, built around inexpensive hardware, not performance-oriented, oriented toward the "blue ocean" of ordinary Joes rather than the power users, based around a completely different paradigm than its competitors... ChromeOS is definitely the Wii in this analogy.

HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.

@glamajamma: You remember incorrectly. The Wii has been pwning all comers consistently since its release.

HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.

They've got my attention. Android is my favorite mobile OS and Chrome is my favorite web browser. Google just seems to have this "connected world" thing figured out on some order of magnitude better than everyone else.

chefgon

Best summary of the 'features' of ChromeOS yet:

[www.woot.com]

It's going to be a third rate OS, just like linux

So...google will probably put out a beta pretty soon. At least that is the way they always do things like this. I imagine that will be available before the end of the year. It probably won't be an open beta because if they do want to get all those technophobes, they won't want to release a buggy OS.

It will be awesome for netbooks though. As long as they simplify network file transfers and drives. It will be a major contendor

walkingagh

Sounds Good, but will it run Firefox?

kinda.loopy88

@Eugenia: Yeesh, I coulda told you 3 years ago, but not 5. And to get the release date right? Wow.

a new statement from google

"all your base are belong to us"

"You are on the way to destruction"

Jraktal

Am I the only one who thinks that maybe a Google OS might be such a good thing. Sure, Chrome is a great browser. I use it every day. But building a program to run on an OS is a whole lot different than creating an OS to run a program. Google's only experience is with the Android OS, which, while I have never used it, seems like a good system over all, but that can't be completely ported over to a larger netbook/desktop version. I guess what I'm saying is that expectations change depending upon the device that you are using. I don't expect an iPhone to behave the same way as my macbook. I expect the iPhone to work as a phone and to browse the internet, maybe play a game or two, and that is all. I expect my macbook to browse the internet and do a thousand other tasks.

As of now, Google has always been geared towards working on the internet. In that area they excel. Will they create enough infrastructure where 3rd party programmers can throw in things like MS Office or photoshop? Will they have initial support for Adobe products (flash anyone) which seems to account for a large portion of the pages on the internet these days.

It was mentioned that the Google OS would be open source. Do 3rd party programmers (IE: the people creating open source apps) get paid if their adjustment to the OS is incorporated into future versions of it? While I know that chrome is free, can google really justify selling it's OS for free? Will it be a free Beta and then be sold to netbook makers to install on their hardware?

Finally, how do we know that the OS will have good virus protection. For all the talk of Mac v PC, one of the main reasons that PCs get viruses is because of market penetration. Maybe the Mac OS is more secure than Windows, or maybe over 3/4s of the population of the world is using Windows. With that in ind, how long would google's virus protection run if its OS really gets a large share of the market?

Just wondering.

SkippyTheMarine

@Mobius_1: While I agree with you, the market does not. For example, it used to be that if you wanted to take selected screen capture you would have to install a 3rd party app like Snagit, now Windows, Mac, and Linux all come with that feature installed. Those features are pre-installed because people want them as part of the OS.

Another example is netbooks. The first netbooks had lightweight Linux OS's, but now most netbooks ship with Windows XP, why? In my opinion it's because most folks don't want a lightweight OS, they want a full featured OS. A five poound Cloud based OS laptop, becomes a five pound brick if you don't have a connection to the "Cloud".

While I like the idea, and believe that Google will execute it properly, I'm not sure we (in general) are ready to make the leap to cloud based computing just yet.

alvega

@Xjep: I'm with you man. I don't want anyone having access to my private details because you just never know. Never know when you will have to disappear.

I hoped they would build an interface for larger screens and input devices into Android. So that, you know, you could attach a bigger screen via an easy but open hardware interface, and have the software interface smoothly adjust, using your Android phone as a 'real' computer when needed.

These improvements in Andriod would then allow ARM netbooks to be viable. On the flip side, the x86 port of Android would also have more purpose.

Maybe this is what's really technically happening. They're just using the weight of their name and a new brand to help on the marketing end. I hope so.

anderlan

"Some apps will always require native architecture, and the businessmen, code-monkeys, graphic designers, video editors and other connoisseurs of nuanced computing would be foolhardy to try and work strictly in the cloud."

And the government. Don't forget the government.

Daveinva

BTW, the Giz doesn't work that well with Chrome. Specially turning pages of comments (1, 2, 3, etc).

A solution in search of a problem almost no one has.

I'm sure Microsoft and Apple aren't losing any sleep tonight.

I dont see this running Crisis anytime soon..

bonedog73

@Jrsy Devil's Food Cake®: ...your best interests are their only concerns!

@Michael Scrip: "But that's my point... if you can already use the Chrome browser on Windows 7... why would you need ChromeOS on top of Linux?"

Isn't that kind of like asking why you would need RedHat or Ubuntu on top of Linux. I thought Google's OS is using the Linux Kernel in the same method all the Linux OSs use.

BlackSmokeDMax

@uRbAnlP: ...or CAT6

@ronnsprocket: good impression

@MrYuk: That seems usesless - Lets go buy a Mac, with the same hardware as a PC, pay more, then put an open source OS on it, when the only advantage to buying the Mac was for the OS? Or just want Chrome in a pretty shiny box?

jamjen

That icon they chose looks like the old Simon Says game.
(I hope this link works)

[www.digitalrendezvous.net]

Weakskills

First of all congrats to Google! MS and Apple need competition which equates to lower prices and better products for us.

I am hoping they do this right and create a very "lean" OS that does the basics, but does them well. Web, Office, Email, Video and Music. Games would be nice but we will see. They have to compete with DirectX.

If the OS was dedicated for just the basics which is probably 95% of everything we do on a daily basis, it's most likely going to be very quick and efficient.

Imagine this bad boy running on your quad i7 system with 4GB of DDR3! Screamin fast!! :)

aztecsurf

@Michael Scrip: They've said the webapps will run in any standards compliant web browser. So, basically it'll run in any web browswer except IE. MS doesn't get to come to the party since their browser is proprietary, but everyone else is invited.

secret_curse

@glamajamma:

@Michael Scrip: "I don't need to run *everything* I do through the cloud."

glamajamma: "The old guard continues to hang on to that mantra."

Yeah, and the day that I can edit multiple streams of uncompressed video and do 3D animation in the cloud you'll have a point. Not everybody's needs can be served by the cloud, and won't be for a long time.

LucianaAndraemon

Ohh, yeah, the Chrome browser already has over 1% of the market after nearly one year. Let's hope the Chrome OS is just as successful, eh?

@Michael Scrip: "These apps are supposed to be web-based... but they will only run on Chrome???"

"which will offer a cloud-based, OS experience around the browser"

To answer your question... Yes!

Kick ass, Google.

stryder100

@Xjep: They only monitor you because they care..

Why are we still talking about windows. In 2010, It will see the end. 2011 is Dooms Day for Windows. How google OS will kill Windows OSGoogle OS based on Chrome will kill Windows forever

Tarandeep Singh

@Digo: I'm not Brazilian or Indian and I know what Orkut is...

Guys--Leave OS X out of it. Chrome recreates a subset of what we have in the iPhone OS. Sandboxing, individual processes, instant on…all of it, we've had for tw years now. What the iPhone also has is dedicated, custom hardware, a more robust programming environment in Cocoa, and a middle layer of technologies like Open CL, Core Frameworks, Bonjour, Grand Central, etc. that enable experiences above and beyond your core, netbook tasks, i.e. mobile gaming and accessory support.

What Chrome does do, is further pull people away from Windows, or at least force Microsoft's to start adhering to open standards, like OS X has been largely doing since its introduction.

Chrome represents in many ways, the endgame for the battle that's been brewing since Apple chose to go with NeXT. In this chess game, it's Apple's move, Google just moved the piece. Google's not trying to get into the hardware game. Why go into manufacturing? What they want is our data. They can turn that into money. Microsoft only ever wanted was subscription fees.

If Apple continues to play along on open standards and raw data, I think Google's position is "more power to them" if they want to expand upon that baseline level of compliance with incredible hardware and innovative software. Controlling their hardware and software, they're the only company in the position to do that.

What we are about to see though is a bifurcation in the hardware market. Thin clients (Passive PCs) are finally here. Asus and all the other commodity PC makers can have fun with that. Corporations are going to love switching over to these essentially free, low-maintenance, easily upgradeable services. Sucks to be Microsoft. But if you actually need to create something, to make a video, develop a presentation, or write a program, until bandwidth and storage are as reliable as my logic board, workstations (Creative PCs) remain where it's at. And Apple is going to dominate that.

@glamajamma: Somebody, I'm sure, does. But Goo says they're taking aim at desktops too so it does raise the question, what about all my windows software? Will Adobe be rolling CS5 out for this? CS6? Will it be as good as the Mac or PC versions?

Perhaps the GIMP will have to do.

@dallasmay2:

If I remember correctly they powned for a while then got dominated for a long time and now two years later they are back on top. Yeah I don't think that is how Google panned out. When Google has only two products on the market and one of them is the Gamecube you can make that comparison.

glamajamma

This is gonna be running in the browser, right? So for me to use chrome os I have to log on to Windows 7, go to Internet Explorer go to Google.com startup Chrome OS and log on. Just does not make sence to me.

Louis Malcome Mark Junior

@tylerstyle: What in the hell is the point behind all those commas? It made for really awkward pauses while I was reading your post.

It's just another option which is always nice to have..... but it doesn't mean it will replace Mac or Windows.... don't see that ever happening.....

yamir49

@Kilgore Trout: just like when Apple first rumored the iPod...there were TONS of nay sayers and people complaining saying...for music?...wtf? and 5GB? why would I ever need that mush storage.

I, for one, am excited and hope this pushes Microsoft to try harder and provide us with a better solution than a rehash of Vista...(don't get me wrong, I like the Windows 7RC, but I hope the competition pushes both companies)

@Jimmy1:
2 years later on gizmodo
How to make a homemade internet database server
That'll solve it

lailai

oh no! i'm scared!!!.... wait no i'm not..

jo53min

@WilCon:
Let's do it! I'm not sure why but I love handling my data to google.

lailai

@crsh1976:
Like, putting up a major banner in its homepage:
Try the new Google Chrome OS

lailai

@ninjaviking:
Your missing the following points:
1. It's cloud based OS. No hard drive.
2. It's from google
3. It's lightweight
4. It's a vista killer
5. It's a apple killer
6. Repeat 1-6.

lailai

@Jimmy1

I agree. It seems humans never learn. The move from mainframe computing to PC was driven by decentralization of data. If the mainframe went down, everyone in the company was down.

Cloud computing is a return to the dark ages and gives bad guys a tastier target. Can you imagine the loss of data and productivity if a cloud system gets hacked or taken out? Yikes.

UtahJ

@deanbmmv:
Try playing flash games. It'll work.

lailai

M Hi, I'm a Mac
P And I'm a PC. You see we're having a new guest here.
M Cool, who is it?
G Hey, I'm Google.
M Oh hey, so what do you do?
G I can surf the web.
P And?
G You expect me to do more? *leaves*
P Looks like its just us again.
M Yeah, so you see the new Macbooks are now cheaper.
P EVERYBODY!! BUY A PC GET 5 FREE!!
M Huh?
P EVERYBODY!! BUY A PC GET 8 FREE!!

*1 year later*
P(holding a bankrupt sign) OUT OF BUSINESS
*background*
Chrome surfing

lailai

@artistpavel:

You can't run anything on it. It doesn't exist yet.

dallasmay2

@Galaxius:

I had the same thoughts. I guess I can imagine Android on phones and Chrome on Desktops, but it seems like a point of confusion -especially if Android on netbooks become popular.

dallasmay2

@glamajamma:

Boy that is one long lasting, popular flash in the pan that everyone else seems to be copying.

dallasmay2

@Michael Scrip:

I doubt it, that's really not Google's style. They gain more from making sure their stuff works on everything. Google is not Apple nor Microsoft.

And by the way, why branch Android like this? Seems to me like they already have the OS they need.

dallasmay2

I'm not sold on cloud computing. I think too many tech companies are putting many of their eggs in this basket.

People, particularly business, will be hesitant to store their data, especially sensitive intellectual property, 'in the cloud'.

The law isn't even really clear on ownership. If I, as a company, store schematics, a white paper, or blueprints in some company's cloud, can a company like Google legally claim ownership of my property?

Yes, I know that Google--or Microsoft---can state that they won't lay claim to your IP, but I do recall a recent Supreme Court decision that if any IP or data that goes through a third party, the original owner loses sole property rights.

Jimmy1

It makes you wonder if Microsoft's special pre-order pricing on Windows 7 may have been to get people on-board before they heard anything more about Chrome OS.

usaplanb

So my life, my data and my monetary earnings are now tied to Google online servers for a cloud based OS? Well whoopdedoo I can't wait for the first outage, oh no the internet is down, again... seriously this whole concept is ridiculous why don't we just hand everything over the net and forget private anything.

WilCon

@artistpavel: Who runs photoshop on a netbook?

glamajamma

@Michael Scrip:

I think the concept here is an OS built around cloud base computing. This means the browser being more monolithic within the OS. Probably worse than IE.
I am guessing doing it this way could leave you with an ultra light OS. Even lighter than Win7.

I am also guessing this would be free to anyone wanting it.

glamajamma

@Michael Scrip:

"I don't need to run *everything* I do through the cloud."

The old guard continues to hang on to that mantra.

glamajamma

@deanbmmv:
Wii != Google

Wii is a flash in a pan, Google is an enterprise.

glamajamma

The part with security? HAH! I think many hackers will look forward to the challenge of hacking this OS and they will succeed. But then again, Google adapts very quickly to changing situations...

@tylerstyle: Watch out! Google has a board with a nail sticking out of it!

kleptoman

@deanbmmv: That's a dumb analogy, and very inaccurate.

@uRbAnlP:

@Russnyc:
Too much power for one company? Perhaps, but that hasn't stopped Microsoft in the past 25 years or so..

While my head "Windows runs on netbooks and that's just fine for 99% of users, so why would they bother with yet-another Linux-based OS?", I think that Google could finally achieve a real breakthrough and change the Windows dominance.

I'd like to think that Google could finally make a non-Windows OS that doesn't scare away the average non-initiate user.

crsh1976

Not for me.

Bassem B.

@deanbmmv:> "I think a good divining rod for how succesful a Google OS will be is see how many EU OEM's stick Chrome on Win7 as the IE replacement."

But that's my point... if you can already use the Chrome browser on Windows 7... why would you need ChromeOS on top of Linux?

I'm sure a Google-ized netbook will sell... but if you're still using Windows or OSX on your other computers... not much will change anywhere else.

(I just heard CNN talk about the Google OS. This is the first step!)

@Mobius_1: Google is going to take over the world, and I completely welcome them. I also use Chrome and noticed it's WAY faster than Firefox (although that could be because I have a bajillion addons with FF3).

If Google can avoid becoming a big fat bloated company like Microsoft making big fat bloated software, then they deserve to annihilate Microsoft's market share. Bring it on!

@nbsp: If it can run my games, I'm sold.

@se.blackheart: I'm a Mac, I'm a PC, and I'm a Google.

Skyman747

And to think.. I've wasted the last year of my life creating something like this and now Google is gonna beat me to it. :(
I'm sure I'll be the only person to use my OS anyways :D

MF350z

@Michael Scrip: I think Googles major bonus over just plain Linux is "Google".
Half my family have stuck with IE for ages, "Firefox is that geeky thing Dean uses, probably requires a degree in IT to use", But quite a few are now running Chrome, because its Google. So If there is a netbook with the option of XP or Google, Well "Apple have taught us that Windows isn't that good, and well Google is the internet and it's a 'Net' book, so I suppose a Google OS should work great".
And as a netbook OS it should work wonders, It'll be Linux so it should still support most Linux software, but it's cloud storage will be a boon over the usually puny netbook HDD's, and allows you to have some stuff available for Base system and on the go with the netbook. And if it ties the Google Apps tightly with the OS so you don't even notice it should be great. And another benefit is everything it can do you can use Gears n pretty much do everything the Google OS offers on any OS, albeit not natively.
I think a good divining rod for how succesful a Google OS will be is see how many EU OEM's stick Chrome on Win7 as the IE replacement.

@deanbmmv:> I suppose Webmail was my first foray into 'the cloud'

Me too. Webmail is fine as a "cloud" service. But what about everything else?

Granted... I spend a lot of time in a browser. But there are many things I need to do locally. I don't need to run *everything* I do through the cloud.

So... what can ChromeOS do that you can't already to with existing OSes and a web browser?

Is it the fact that it's a lightweight, fast-booting Linux OS that makes it easy to get on the web and check your mail? If that's the case... we already have Linux and web browsers.

@Jacob Mikulec:> "he means the chrome browser for mac which there isnt one"

These apps are supposed to be web-based... but they will only run on Chrome???

Proprietary?

Google must be taking a page out of Microsoft's book...

@deanbmmv: This is the point at which you start to keep some things you don't want found out on good ol moleskins.

Imagism

There's two good reasons why computing will never be completely cloud based and why Apple and Microsoft won't go away anytime soon-

1. Security- It will become important to be able to power off computers in an analog fashion in the future, effectively locking data or a user key into the hardware until the party using it actually wakes up to use it themselves, no different than how you use a clothes iron.

2. Nature- A solar flare somewhere in the future could effectively wipe out every satellite/ wireless or cellular service facing the sun. A copy of the system and redundandat land based and hardware OS systems will never go away completely. So could a magnetic charge from a clothes dryer or ceiling fan.

Aside, this is way too much power for one company to have, it should be about choice.

Russnyc

@tylerstyle: Never used Outlook, or any email program, never saw much point and they we're always a pain to set up. I suppose Webmail was my first foray into 'the cloud'

this is the future of programs, though, really. think cs5 accessed exclusively though your browser of choice, paid for monthly like some kind of lynda.com (or applicable porn site.)

we totally all saw it coming; natural progression. though hard drive space is as largely important as it is largely progressing, the need for more hd storage space will forever chase the boundaries of the average user capacity. this is as evident as is such the nature of human beings: populace vs. potential = supply vs. demand.

blah blah blah = existentialism.

worst. giz commenter. ever.

@deanbmmv: And don't forget the sheer speed it comes with. That's one of my main points. The distinct line between online and offline till gmail came around always were the frequent load times in between. Those are nearly gone and you can use such an app almost like you would use outlook. For my personal use cases and demands there is nothing more I need in a mail App. Sure, they can improve here and there (which they do with those labs experiments), but overall. It's complete for me.

@Hahaue: Then like me it looks like you're with Windows for many years yet.

@sneakypoo: Oh I'm all for local apps, but as a student I tend to travel around several PCs. For the past few years I've had a thumb drive with a few PortableAPpps on, but last year I have slowly started moving some stuff to Docs n iGoogle. That way I'm not even tied to a particular OS, cos Portable Apps was still pretty much Windows only. As long as I had a browser I could access a fair chunk of my work n bookmarks form anywhere. Not used much Cloud storage though, don't trust it to be up all the time, and it's not as fast as just plugging in a thumb drive.

Won't this be just another Linux distro? Probably a nice, well supported distro, but still, not quite a "new OS"?

ninjaviking

@tylerstyle: I really like Chromes design n UI, tabs on top FTW, but Gmail doesn't look or feel very polished. Admittedly between the three none of them are perfect.
Hotmail is the best for reading messages, Yahoo has the cool tab idea n you can scroll through all your messages rather than clicking through them 25 at a time, Hotmail has the folders with some basic macros for pre sorting mesages. Gmail does have themes though which are uber awesome, and works as FTP with Firefox :D

I'd switch over 100% if it could run my games with no issues.

I love Chrome, this speaking as a Jalop. :)

Seriously, this is good news. Google are doing the anti-Vista by producing a lightweight OS that actually does what an OS should - provide a platform for other applications to run along speedily, not hog resources for itself. I use the Chrome browser at times, and it is good, seriously good, and just by experience, better on a weak machine than Firefox.

Mobius_1000_Club

@sneakypoo: No, I agree with you. The sad thing is that your data is never local when you log on. Your ISP has access to everything you put online, as do many other people/corporations as soon as you click on a link. Real privacy does not exist on the internet. Even the things we all would like to think are private and secure can be hacked or joined by a third party you would rather not give your data to, like the NSA. The only way to keep things private online is to never post anything personal, or look up anything of a personal nature. Barring that, you would need to find a way around having a static IP address and constantly alter your MAC address. Even then, there would be no guarantee of privacy.

Jim-Bob

So would it be free like current Google stuff though?
I would be willing to pay for it but not as much as Windows, especially if it's Linux based (cos thats free duh)

@deanbmmv: *and used in conjunction with the other two.

@se.blackheart: The broken one in second place?
I'd say
Wii- Google- really popular and connected to hundreds of homes, and in conjunction with the other two.
360 - MS(naturally- In first place between the two "proper" consoles/OS, and a fair few issues.
PS3 - Apple - The possibly more expensive of the three but value vs price will be argued for ever. Generally just 'works' and comes with a few more odds n sods out the box ( but not blu-ray which has always confused me as they are on the BDA board, never mind being a member)

@tylerstyle: Have you tried Yahoo! or Windows Live lately? Anything wrong with those? I kinda like the new Windows Live UI design and functionality...

@Xjep: Between web search, web mail n random apps n widgets your going between MS, Yahoo n Google. So no matter what one of the three will be getting a nice idea of what you do. Google can figure out if your ill, Amazon knows what stuff you like to buy, etc.
You signed off your right to privacy as soon as you hooked up to the net.

I wonder how much of our information on these computers will end up being served to advertisers to help supplement Google's needs.

I didn't read the whole thing (hey, I admitted it, did you?), but it's on top of Linux. It'll be interesting to hear if it's substantially more than just another linux distro or not.

ian.nai

Now we can finally "get on the Google". That or we're one step closer

cy3

Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one in the world that actually likes having my data and apps local. I don't want to depend on a third party to keep my data safe and I don't want to have to rely on my internet connection to be able to work. And no matter what anyone says, a local app is faster.

Maybe I'm just weird like that?

sneakypoo

@Xjep: what he said pretty much, if you put anything out on the net period your privacy is null and void.

You can't joke about idiots tweeting every second of their life by saying "no one cares about your life" then turn around and whine that the internets know everything about your life.

Technogen

@David Contreras: I was just going to say this. in their blog post they say that they will release the open source later this year, and I can't wait to have it on my new netbook.

Joshua Tuttle

@[www.photoshop.com]

Joshua Tuttle

They say that the first products will be in 2010, but that doesn't mean that they won't release the software sooner.

David Contreras

I don't really understand what a cloud based OS is, but I heart Google.

boilslaw

@nbsp: You're thinking of Microsoft. This is Google, their stuff is functional right from the beta. Except Orkut, that was so buggy I couldn't believe Google made it. (If you're not Brazilian or Indian you probably don't know what Orkut is, don't worry.)

Digo

@Eugenia: That is awesome! The comments are priceless. I really want to track some of those people down and email them a copy of their disparaging reactions. One of my favorites:

"Oh, come on. How about speculating a new future-to-be Adobe operating system? Or Symantec? Or Mozilla? Heck, why not a Coca-Cola-Company-OS???? If the majority of those editors spent the time they waste on publishing this kind of pointless crap on doing something productive (a new OS, perhaps) then we'd be living in a much better cyberspace. But as long as this nagging continues, the only option I have is to read stories like this from OSNews which mostly belong to the Cosmopolitan domain."

@Joe Zydeco: Google Chrome OS is also linux-based.

@Zordon: he means the chrome browser for mac which there isnt one

Jacob Mikulec

@ronnsprocket: haha nice :)

@Galaxius: Because Android is based on Java, which would totally suck as an OS implementation language (no control over memory allocation, no ability to emulate other language models efficiently, etc).

AreWeThereYeti

@MrYuk: Uh, what are you shouting about? They said they'd support mac, windows, and linux apps but be mostly web app based. Or do you mean, will the OS install on a Mac? (probably yes as it will be a linux distro) Be more specific with your rantings, please.

Zordon

Lots of pie in the sky claims without much reason to believe them, no matter how entrenched in the web Chrome OS will be.

Google does great stuff, but I'll believe it when I see it…….in more than a year, and well after Windows 7 has entrenched itself. Web development platforms aren't magically immune to security vulnerabilities.

dLMN8R

I read the Google Blog Entry

They have confirmed that Android was also targeted at netbooks when it was developed.

nightwheel

@Galaxius: Because Android needs Linux underneath to work. If the point is to strip the OS down to the point where it's just Webkit and a TCP/IP stack, you don't need the rest of Linux.

Joe Zydeco

@nbsp: Don't worry. It will be open-source, which means that no matter how hard you struggle against it, it will be Linux-based in some way.

Zordon

This guy foretold the Google Chrome OS right 5 YEARS AGO [is.gd]
Just read the negativity people commented against his ideas back then! Almost no one believed in the ideas the guy was describing. The guy got right not only the idea behind a cloud OS, but also the release date!!!

@Xjep:

As long as that CAT5 cable is plugged into your computer there will be no such thing as "Privacy".

uRbAnlP

Can you run Photoshop on it?

@nbsp:

Chrome OS will be Beta for years before they could even release a Service Pack, don't worry.

uRbAnlP

@Galaxius: dont worry it will only be for "about" 6 years

@SJRNWT: Thats not the problem; I like my privacy doesn't matter what I have on it. I will not give any entity the right to own my data for shit.

@Xjep: It's funny, I used to be like you.

Then I realized I have nothing to hide on my computer because I live legitimately (aside from smoking the herb), therefore I don't care if Google, or Firefox, or anyone is monitoring what I'm doing.

PS: Nobody from Google is going to find your pr0n searches and tell everyone, so simmer down...

SJRNWT

knew they would eventually generate a cloud based OS.

not sure i trust it though.

EncNone

@Xjep: The only thing I could see looking forward to is when google sends you an email reminding you of an anniversary that you clearly forgot. How do they know these things? The magic of the google OS paying attention to the things you just can't be bothered with.

Sorry for a second post but it doesn't relate to my first one at all

But does this mean that Google is going to have an operating system in beta longer than Microsoft??? :)

Galaxius

Simply Awesome! Google Rocks!

@Xjep: what are YOU hiding?

I'd try it

I like Google Chrome (browser). So if it's anything like the Browser, it should be great.

nightwheel

I for one accepted our new Overlords years ago already.

I really love Google's UI design choices and functionality. They revolutionized the Web more then once for me (Mails as good as offline Apps, Photos, Docs, Calendar) and I trust, they can deliver even beyond that. I hope I can get my Android Phone soon and see, how that goes (the devel Kit is very promising).

Their absolute dedication to form follows function is exactly, how I would design UI.

That is all for now.
Fanboy out!

Do they plan on inserting a line in the EULA that says they own everything you do with it? I mean when i'm sending my generals plans to take over the world i dont want Google to be like "Yea these are ours so the world is ours now not yours.... Throne please"

mackid

Except that none of these make sense as the Wii.

Jonathan Moll

Why don't they just base it off of android..? Aren't a few netbooks running that (albeit "hacked") already?

Galaxius

@Xjep: There's nothing left, what they don't monitor through the web already... Nothing.

Google is becoming Microsoft 2.0

The Apple, Microsoft and Google dynamic is becoming more and more like Playstation, Xbox 360 and Wii...ironically with Google being the Xbox 360.

This makes me happy.

How about support for the Mac, you losers!

Hell no; cant begin to think what type of shit they will monitor on you.

Hardly a rumour. Google has already announced it on their blog. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

TamaraHaeden

Big G doing Big Things!
exciting.

IT'S NOT A RUMOR!!!!!!!

[ahnold voice]

ronnsprocket

Thanks, but i'll hold out for Google Chrome OS Service Pack 2.

Coz you need a service pack for it to be functional right?

(Still, if it's not linux, i'd be keen)

nbsp

This isn't a rumor...
[googleblog.blogspot.com]

Nick Silvestri

I JUST got this email from NYTimes. Very interesting to see what the Goog says tomorrow on their blog.

@deanbmmv: I'm using Gmail IMAP. Thunderbird > any webmail

Nick2

@nbsp: Google Chrome OS Beta with Service Pack 2 beta required to run beta software?

Nick2