Chrome OS: Worth your time?
Monday, November 23rd, 2009The big (and incredibly) obvious question with Chrome OS is if it will be worth your time. YOUR big question at this moment may be why this is on a web development blog… Well, this is a web-centric OS, and uses applications based solely in the cloud.
Now, back to the original question… Yes. Chrome OS looks like it will be worth your time, especially if you have a netbook.
Allow me to elabourate…
We all love the internet. Do not deny, you couldn’t live without it. Neither could today’s world, and that’s a fact. The first thing you click on when you boot your computer up is probably your web browser, or instant messaging application, or Twitter application… Something connected to the internet. Your home page is a home away from home.
So, doesn’t it make sense for this process to be streamlined? Easy to use, incredibly accessible, and, most importantly, fast? I think so, and so does Google. And what reason do we have not to trust them? They’re obviously awesome. Just look at Gmail.
So, the good people over at Google took the concept of a fast net-based OS, and developed it with gratuitous amounts of polish.
What does the competition think?
With a quick search on Google (THEY’RE RUNNING MY LIFE!), I found an interesting article from a while back, that lets us know what Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer said about the operating system before much was known.
Gates respectively beat around the bush a bit, but Ballmer goes straight for the prize, criticizing Google for having two operating systems.
The last time I checked you don’t need two client operating systems. It’s good to have one.
What’s this other Google operating system, you ask? …Android. Their mobile operating system, for mobile phones. Not really relevant in a discussion about desktop OS’. (Also, he missed a part… Should read “It’s good to have one, with five hundred variations.”)
All in all, Chrome OS is getting mixed press coverage.
While no official beta download is available yet, they have released the source code, which has been compiled, and some users have even made available a version of Chrome OS that is runnable in a virtual machine.All in all, the press doesn’t seem very impressed. But I don’t think that’s a huge deal.
Plans for the future
As far as I can tell, Google isn’t looking to make much of an instant impact with this OS when it’s released… It obviously won’t take the market by storm, but it will definitely change the way people look at their computers and the way they’re used, and I’m expecting that it will definitely catch on with netbook users. This thing takes four seconds to boot up. Four seconds. Maybe even faster by the time an official release comes around.
This is about how long it takes most computers to come out of sleep mode, or an LCD television to turn on. This way, you won’t go downstairs to grab a snack while your computer’s getting ready for use.
All in all, Chrome OS looks like a decent contender in the netbook market, but probably won’t make much of a dent elsewhere. The convenience is all in the cloud; your information is there no matter what computer you’re using, so long as it’s connected to the internet. A very nice concept, and I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out in the long run.
tagged under: Chrome.Chrome OS.Cloud.Google.Operating SystemABOUT THIS AUTHOR
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Does anyone know if Chrome OS will allow you to save anything locally (say to a SD card or to a USB memory stick)? I’m sort of curious – if I can do this, I want one (a Chrome OS system) – and if it can’t save anything locally somebody at Google needs a couple of good swift kicks.
P.S. – Chrome OS reminds me of Sun’s Sun Ray system.
Very interesting. I wanna try it.
@AC
I’m fairly sure I actually saw a video of an SD card having files taken off and put on, in Chrome OS. Looks like you’re safe there.
Doesnt it seem like building an OS that cant run any programs is a little pointless. I dont JUST brows the web…I play video games…that are on my Harddrive…which is also unsupported…hmm the more i think of it the less i like it…
Hey, it’s not for everybody.
Google is focusing on mostly Netbook users, who would not be able to play any games on their machines, anyway. (Not anything that’s recent, at all, anyway.)
As for other applications, they’re trying to cover up with web apps, which are actually incredibly useful and could, in time, replace a lot of the applications on one’s hard-drive and putting that information in the cloud.
But again, it’s not for everyone. I, for one, know that I’ve got apps that I depend on, and Chrome OS will not work for my day-to-day. But if I had a netbook? Yes. I would definitely use Chrome OS. Without a doubt.
This little laptop is all I could have asked for and THEN some! The only thing I would change is to give it 2Gb RAM from the factory, and it would be practically perfect (at least in my opinion)! The hot port is great as I travel quite a bit and I never have to carry anything more than my smartphone’s USB cable as this jewel will charge the phone even if the laptop is off! I love the range of the wireless adapter and the application which allows me to view all available networks in a “radar” type view. I also love the fact that there is a “drop” sensor which parks the heads of the HDD if the laptop detects a drop or shock (of course, the sensitivity has to be adjusted, or it will park the heads every time it is picked up or set onto a hard surface.) Perhaps the most incredible thing about this laptop however, is the battery life. I have tested it in a normal workday environment and found the battery life to be right about 9 HOURS!!! This is great for those of us who are “Road Warriors” and spend a lot
I have installed Chrome OS on one of my netbooks and the performance of Chrome OS is just okay. there is nothing fancy or very special about it. It was just a sort of GUI version of linux or something.
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i installed Chrome OS on two of my netbooks. the Chrome OS works great and its loading time is very fast too.