Just read a few tidbits about this, since it was announced yesterday...

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/19/googles-chrome-os-revealed/

First thing that caught my eye... it's not going to be compatible with a fair amount of hardware. SSD drives only? Approved devices only. Sounds more like the the Android way of doing things.

Target release date is Fall 2010.

Entirely browser based, even file listings.



[Edited on November 20, 2009 at 9:58 AM. Reason : screenshot]

11/20/2009 9:57:51 AM

Isnt there a google innovation thread?



lol, jk.


I'm not all that excited about it. This shit has been hyped to infinity.

11/20/2009 10:08:03 AM

Ya, I thought about that, but Android got its own thread, and this seems like it'd deserve its own, too.

The concept of it being primarily web-based makes a lot of sense coming from a company like Google. They basically live in the cloud. The thing that I want to see is how deeply they'll embed their Gears technology into the OS, so you can go off-network sometimes.

[Edited on November 20, 2009 at 10:12 AM. Reason : rabble]

11/20/2009 10:10:40 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/20/google-chrome-os-available-as-free-vmware-download/

Quote :

"Google Chrome OS available as free VMWare download (update: first impressions) By Vladislav Savov posted Nov 20th 2009 1:44AM Hands-On Breaking News Seriously, how awesome have the past few hours been? Engadget turns the design stakes up to 11, Google finally dishes the dirt on Chrome OS, and now you can even download the forthcoming software to have a fiddle with yourself. It's completely free, though you'll need VMWare running atop a Windows, Linux or OS X installation to make the magic happen. Naturally, we've been considerate enough to provide download links for everything you'll require at the source below, so get those fingers clicking. We've already successfully installed the browser-based OS and will soon be sharing our own hands-on thoughts, but if you beat us to it, spill your insight in the comments below. We do read 'em, you know. Well, we've had a chance to have a quick and dirty snoop around Chrome OS and our early conclusions are rather predictable. This really is a browser with an OS attached rather than vice versa. You get your tab-based navigation up top, and the focus is of course on the internet, with minimal option buttons on the far right and app launchers at the top left. Unfortunately, in order to access the more interesting apps, one requires a Google.com login which we do not have, so we were stuck gazing at only the Gmail and Calendar applications. They act and function much like their online counterparts, but for the significant lag and choppiness that may be attributed to the still very early stage of development or the fact it's running on a virtual machine. We didn't manage to find any bugs as such, aside from somehow losing the aforementioned pair of apps on our second login, but that could've just been due to our own fumbling with the VM software. One thoroughly pleasing thing to note is that the "machine" booted to the login screen in under 10 seconds, and we were ready to browse the web within another five -- quite a feat already, and if paired to an equally smooth and responsive experience inside the OS, this could completely obliterate quick-launching browsing software like Splashtop. Rest assured we'll be doing our utmost to get access to the full, albeit still skeletal, Chrome OS experience, and as soon as we can take a look at the rest of the apps on offer, we'll do a more in-depth analysis. Stay tuned."

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/20/google-chrome-os-available-as-free-vmware-download/

[Edited on November 20, 2009 at 10:15 AM. Reason : ]

11/20/2009 10:13:22 AM

The coolest thing about the announcements



was that Sergey wears toe-shoes.

11/20/2009 10:14:15 AM

Fuck yeah. I'm going to put this on my netbook.

11/20/2009 10:22:02 AM

toe shoes?

11/20/2009 10:28:17 AM

Those look like Vibrams.

11/20/2009 10:30:38 AM

I have to agree that this might be a neat candidate for netbooks. The quick boot times are definitely a feature. Since all I really do with my netbook is surf the tubez, this makes a lot of sense. That said, it'll be nice to see Google really open this up for plugins. That's where the real fun will come in.

11/20/2009 10:36:24 AM

I'm about to try out the vm release

11/20/2009 10:36:26 AM

+1 to the OP

i think this is pretty cool...i like the idea of a minimum weight OS that you expand through the use of plugins (if i'm understanding how chrome OS will be set up)

11/20/2009 11:46:34 AM

it's pretty nifty - great for a netbook type application. the current release doesn't have much on it... at least that I saw, so I'm anxious to see what else they add

11/20/2009 11:52:31 AM

hopefully this doesn't turn into another OS flop like BeOS

11/20/2009 2:32:43 PM

Are there guides that will show me how to be able to choose to boot in google OS or Pro 7? I know how to create partitions for my android phone, but not my computer, ha.

11/20/2009 4:05:32 PM

Quote :

"Fuck yeah. I'm going to put this on my netbook."

Quote :

"Are there guides that will show me how to be able to choose to boot in google OS or Pro 7? I know how to create partitions for my android phone, but not my computer, ha."

Not sure about that after reading this article on it today:

Quote :

"The first Chrome OS netbooks will be available in late 2010, Pichai said. It will not be available as a download to run and install. Instead, Chrome OS is only shipping on specific hardware from manufacturers Google has partnered with. That means if you want Chrome OS, you'll have to purchase a Chrome OS device."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/20/google.os/index.html

[Edited on November 20, 2009 at 4:15 PM. Reason : ]

11/20/2009 4:15:06 PM

lol...well that sucks...

and i'm not sure what ^^ is talking about because you can only install ChromeOS in VMWare...so there is no partitioning or booting necessary.

11/20/2009 4:38:58 PM

"^^" does not know what he (me) is talking about.... I was thinking I could just have a second partition and run google OS from it.

11/20/2009 4:42:52 PM

haha...nope...at least not with this download...and it sounds like ever unless you buy their designated hardware or obtain it illegally.

I don't have a problem with restricting the OS sales to certain hardware...but the reason why that works so well for apple is because their hardware looks slick and appeals from a design point of view, not to mention they make the hardware too. If google could do something similar that would be awesome but they'll probably just partner with the shitty netbook manufacturers that produce ugly crap.

[Edited on November 20, 2009 at 4:50 PM. Reason : .]

11/20/2009 4:48:03 PM

because pretty hardware runs better!

11/20/2009 5:30:58 PM

well no because the processor, hard drive, memory etc is all pretty much the same...

but it does sell better and I'd rather have something thats pleasing to the eye to use then some ugly POS

11/20/2009 5:34:29 PM

Quote :

"but it does sell better"

Ugly and cheap outsells expensive and pretty all day long. It sucks, but that's life.

11/20/2009 6:36:30 PM

Google is out of their mind if they think this is going to succeed if it is only featured on netbooks with specific hardware.

I really do love Google, but this OS just gave me the feeling of them being very "parasitic," Google is just really introducing a new way to frame other people's content.

I know this is nothing new for Google, but it is really the first time I sort of noticed how much they profit off of it.

11/20/2009 7:55:44 PM

yes.... they're going to make boat loads of money by creating an open source OS that other companies sell on their own machines

11/20/2009 8:15:42 PM

User Adoption of Google Product --> Higher consumer loyalty to Google product suite --> More Ad clicks --> Money


not a hard concept

11/20/2009 8:40:25 PM

Seems fine to me, but I agree that it needs to be available for a wide variety of hardware. The "specific hardware" thing isn't going to go over well. On the other hand, it's pretty clear they're doing that to limit code bloat and improve stability. Just look at Windows device drivers if you need to see why they'd consider it.

11/20/2009 8:44:26 PM

Quote :

"Ugly and cheap outsells expensive and pretty all day long. It sucks, but that's life."

cheap yes...but expensive and ugly? I think not...I thought the same until I googled the market share of notebooks over $1000. Oddly enough Apple has had 95% of that market for new sales in the last months.

11/20/2009 10:02:43 PM

I don't think my Droid is ugly, but it's probably not as pretty as an iPhone.

11/20/2009 10:18:51 PM

^I was talking about notebooks. But the motorola droid is ugly as sin...it looks like an old school star tack with sliding keyboard. But thats more of a motorola issue.

11/20/2009 10:22:50 PM

[shrug] whatever. it doesn't have to be a jewel in order to work like one.

11/20/2009 10:24:10 PM

No it doesn't...but I don't spend money on something that only has inner beauty.

11/20/2009 10:26:11 PM

hahaha. my imac is amused.

11/20/2009 10:29:23 PM

this kinda made me appreciate what microsoft is doing in supporting so many devices, they are allowing many hardware makers to develope and produce better products
on the other hand it seems, at least for the time being, that google os is for specific type of users until there are many more web apps in which case a google os can be made for different machines

11/20/2009 10:34:54 PM

It just seems really silly to run Google Chrome OS on anything but a netbook...

11/20/2009 10:35:59 PM

Quote :

"Ultimately, Google is really hoping that many users are in the market not just for a "companion PC" that's a slimmed-down, cheaper version of what they already have, but for a "cloud client" type of machine that's an entirely new thing that they don't yet have and didn't know they needed. Again, the ChromeOS portable is not really a netbook—it's a new device category with its own unique capabilities and limitations, and Google will have to make the sale to users on its own merits. "

http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/11/chromeos-announcement.ars

11/21/2009 3:00:42 AM

I think this warrants a new type of hardware...something even more slimed down from a netbook if possible I'd buy it.

11/21/2009 3:16:59 AM

If nothing else this will turn up the heat on Microsoft to improve their product (the same way apple does).

There is no reason it should take so long to boot a PC.

11/21/2009 7:55:14 AM

interesting... so they're talking about, essentially, portable terminals. leave your data in the cloud, and let the OS just be the gateway to everything else. that sounds like a very Google thing to do.

11/21/2009 11:03:40 AM

yeah, picking up what SUN started 15 years ago, before it was really technically feasible

11/21/2009 11:38:08 AM

what would be cool is to have a multiple OS option with Chrome so you can still have Windows when needed

11/21/2009 11:46:22 AM

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/releasing-chromium-os-open-source.html

Meant to post this earlier, this is the official announcement on the Google blog.

11/23/2009 1:05:03 PM

That owns.

11/23/2009 1:14:18 PM

Soo...

You need a real OS (Windows, Linux, OSX) in order to run this. Whats the point of that?

11/23/2009 2:36:42 PM

can't get the vmdk to run

11/23/2009 2:42:58 PM

^^I think you missed something.

11/23/2009 2:43:25 PM

^^^to run this beta, yes. When Google Chrome OS is officially released on select hardware then no...and the only reason you need another OS as of right now is because you can only run it as a VM...look up what that means if you don't know.

11/23/2009 2:50:13 PM

I'll preface this this by saying I haven't read any links. And only skimmed this page.



It runs in a browser? Don't you need an OS to run a browser?

Or will the final release not run in a browser?

[Edited on November 23, 2009 at 3:10 PM. Reason : k]

11/23/2009 3:10:01 PM

Quote :

"I'll preface this this by saying I haven't read any links. And only skimmed this page."

read all the links and stop asking obviously stupid questions...

[Edited on November 23, 2009 at 3:13 PM. Reason : also look up what a VM/Virtual Machine is because you don't know.]

11/23/2009 3:12:45 PM

The hardware issue is really not relevant at all, by the time this OS is ready to be released to the public, solid state HDD are going to likely be the only options for netbooks. 6 months (minimu for them to get this released) is a LONG time in the technology world, I think google is just planning ahead, and doing so might cause companies to adapt to the newer technology sooner if it means selling more of their products.

11/23/2009 3:46:50 PM

So i just got this up and running on my netbook using a bootable USB drive.

It's so.....bare (i know it's like pre-alpha etc). I don't understand why I would want this over Windows 7 and Chrome (browser) in combination.

All I am really gaining here is a home page with links to "cloud" apps. Add the home page to the normal Chrome and it's all the same.

edit: I do have to say that it had drivers ready to go for my wifi card and touchpad no problem on an Asus EEE 1005HA...pretty sweet actually. Same for video driver, everything booted up properly configured ala OS X

[Edited on November 23, 2009 at 8:29 PM. Reason : edit]

11/23/2009 8:27:08 PM

Chrome OS 'Diet' version fits on a 1GB USB key, brings more WiFi support
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/30/chrome-os-diet-version-fits-on-a-1gb-usb-key-brings-more-wifi/

Quote :

"Not everyone has a 4GB USB key or SD card just lying around, which was required to run Hexxeh's first build of Chromium OS, and we'd say that 8GB keys are exponentially more rare, which is what Dell requires with its build of the Chrome OS open source variant. Well, you can cancel that Fry's run, because Hexxeh is back with a Chrome OS Diet flavor, which cuts the fat and gets the OS onto a 1GB drive. It supposedly doesn't cut anything features-wise, and actually improves WiFi support since it's based on a newer build -- check out that compatibility list source link for the full story on that."

Very nice. Maybe Google won't have to skimp on hardware support after all. Let the community do all the work.

12/1/2009 11:37:57 AM