Google Chrome OS

[iptech]

I've posted this here as there's not a section under 'Operating Systems' for new OS announcements.

Google have announced their plans to develop a new operating system tailored towards netbooks. Any new contender looking to challenge Microsoft's dominance is no bad thing in my book, but will Google be able to succeed where Linux has still largely failed? Most netbooks are now sold with XP Home after the initial rush of Linux based machines.

Introducing the Google Chrome OS
7/07/2009 09:37:00 PM
It's been an exciting nine months since we launched the Google Chrome browser. Already, over 30 million people use it regularly. We designed Google Chrome for people who live on the web — searching for information, checking email, catching up on the news, shopping or just staying in touch with friends. However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. So today, we're announcing a new project that's a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It's our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google.

We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.

We have a lot of work to do, and we're definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision. We're excited for what's to come and we hope you are too. Stay tuned for more updates in the fall and have a great summer.

Posted by Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management and Linus Upson, Engineering Director

Original blog post can be read HERE

 

[theFakeGeek]

I've posted this here as there's not a section under 'Operating Systems' for new OS announcements.

Google have announced their plans to develop a new operating system tailored towards netbooks. Any new contender looking to challenge Microsoft's dominance is no bad thing in my book, but will Google be able to succeed where Linux has still largely failed? Most netbooks are now sold with XP Home after the initial rusg of Linux based machines.



Original blog post can be read HERE

And we move closer to a technician-less computer field.....

However I can't wait for Google Chrome OS to put on my netbook!

 

[Kenhelms]

and all the sudden all the ads you see on the internet....will be for products related to things you normally look at or work with.

 

[Nomad]

Google's new open-source OS will almost certainly beat XP and Windows 7 on cost, and will be lighter weight, but there's no telling how it will be to actually use. The relative dearth of Linux on netbooks also shows that people tend to prefer a more Windows-like environment. Google's blog entry about the OS says:

"The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the Web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work."

Say it ain't so! What are the odds Google Chrome will be virus proof??

 

[Blues]

Google's new open-source OS will almost certainly beat XP and Windows 7 on cost, and will be lighter weight, but there's no telling how it will be to actually use. The relative dearth of Linux on netbooks also shows that people tend to prefer a more Windows-like environment. Google's blog entry about the OS says:

"The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the Web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work."

Say it ain't so! What are the odds Google Chrome will be virus proof??

It's virus proof until some one with the skills and determination decides to make one for it.

 

[angry_geek]

Let's hope they do just a wee bit better job than the Google OS released on a few netbooks last year. Although linux based, they managed to completely drop the ball on that one.

 

[thecoldone06]

It's virus proof until some one with the skills and determination decides to make one for it.

Or until there's enough market share to make it worth their while.

 

[MrUnknown]

I have been seeing articles written with the dumbest gibberish of crap that the writer could muster about this OS. With amazing titles such as "Google Chrome OS: Will It Kill Windows?" which in the article asks the question, "But can it run Microsoft Word and Photoshop?"

Another article has this statement, "It’s very hard to get all the software makers to create versions of their software that’ll work on your OS. " It seems they completely failed to read the press release that specifically says, all applications will run inside Chrome. All the "applications" will be web-apps. However, I am sure people will hack the system to run other apps other than Chrome.

Quite frankly, and I see their blog post addressed it a little bit, I don't see why they didn't just alter Android to fill this purpose.

 

[bagellad]

No OS can get of viruses completely. They are only safe until they get a big market share.

 

[rusty.nells]

Perhaps this is Microsoft's response, a new browser OS.

 

[ithinkyou5.0]

im not sure google will succeed here, it looks like big jump towards clowd computing that the world isnt ready for. outside of japan and some areas in the US high speed internet connection (im talking 500kbps+) is still just a pipe dream, fare to costly to actualy be a reality like one of those "when i win lotto i will be able to buy a lambo, fill its petrol tank half way and buy a pack of skittles" type things. web apps sound good on paper but what happens in countrys that have data restrictions on downloads like here in australia? how will a clowd OS perform on dial up speeds? its other problem is (correct me if im wrong) its based on the linux kernal so we will just have another flavour of linux 'sept we have to pay for it. if linux took me more than a few sunday afternoons and bottles of jack d to master how will the average end users cope with jumping on there "myspace machines" and having to figure out how to run photoshop inside wine? linux is failing to compete with M$ for a reason and that reason is that is different. "what do you mean i cant run any .exes?"