Jul 08
Great article over on wired that helps clear up what this big announcement means for you, especially if you’re a netbook user. Read it.
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There’s a lot of skepticism out there about this, but I for one am extremely optimistic about the cloud paradigm. Here’s the thing:
I’m an OS junkie. I enjoy twiddling with all sorts of OSes. I run both Windows and Mac and home, and Windows, Mac, and Linux servers at work. I find myself more attracted to Google apps (iGoogle, mail, contacts, calendar, even their documents and photos) each day, because all I need is just… there, anywhere, all the time, and regardless of platform.
The idea of a super-lightweight web-based OS has a lot of appeal where you favor mobility and uniformity in your apps above all else (of course provided you have constant connectivity).
Personally, I think the cloud computing is in its infancy and the stuff people are nervous about now (availability, privacy, and security) will eventually fade in light of the uber-convenience factor. Google would go even further if they began some sort of paid plans where they assure customer data security in the long-term.
The first I’ve heard of this and it sounds great.
At the end of the day, you don’t even ahve to be connected to the net with this. Simply updated and then work offline with Google Gears. Then update the online version later. Or work straight online.
For my brother’s father-in-law who owns a netbook, we did something similar. Took the netbook linux based OS and completely stripped of all non-essential features. Most of the services then relied on Internet connection, but he has an Internet anywhere plan for a reason. Slapped on VLC for media and simple picture viewer. Made sure it had his camera driver and that was about it.
I’m intrigued by the idea of the Chrome OS, but I’d like to see the hardware specs for devices running it. What happens with your netbook when you are not near an Internet connection? It seems that a web based OS would be pretty useless without a good Internet connection. I think you have to have some form of data connection other than WiFi on the device. Or maybe they expect you to tether your cell phone?
Oh, and for some reason, the minute I heard about this, I was convinced that Apple will release a tablet in the next year. Basically a super-sized iPhone that will take the place of the MacBook (non-pro).
If it’s anything like their web browser I’ll avoid it like the plague.
A google OS has me concerned. For one, Maturity.
Don’t get me wrong… i LOVE google and all it’s products. I want to be a google junkie just like the apple junkies, and i would go out and buy an Android phone if i could afford it, and i use Google chrome and so fourth. But i think there are limits, and a Google OS is one of them. Security and reliability are two big and major things when it comes to computers. And these two points seem to have more to it themselves:
Security: How secure is the environment? how easily can it be breached? How resistant is it to modification that risks comprimising it’s security?
Reliability: I want to run software on it, will it run reliably? Is it going to be able to handle newer technology? Is google going to be able to comply with a technology standards industry that has been maturing for the last 2 decades?
Here’s the thing. Microsoft have made mistakes… but they made them at a time when they could get away with a lot of it. We come to now and we see an operating system that can, quite frankly, take a TON of punishment. You can rip out a Hard disk with windows installed, put it in a new machine with COMPLETELY different hard ware and guess what… the damn system reconfigures itself to run under it. This took YEARS for them to master and get right, and the same applies to *nix. It has been around for so long that they have managed to learn and adapt and get their code to work with the brave new world.
Now, lets look at some other industries. How many companies have either gone bankrupt or had to bail out of a new venture because they didn’t have expertise in the new industry. Several whitegood companies have bombed out because their products couldnn’t cut the mustard up against the other companies that have been doing it for ages.
The other thing I’m concerned about is compatibility. Not with the operating system, but with applications. It is already borderline frustrating that we have Windows, *nix and Mac OS’s that cannot run the same code. Is adding ANTOHER operating system just going to amek distribution of software even harder? Java tried to resolve this with their theory of “Compile-one-run-anywhere” technique and quite frankly… it has failed. Sun Microsystems is being bought by Oracle so clearly, Java is struggling. Java is GREAT for small devices, but for the big machines… not so good. The performance hit was too great for hardware that does not natively emulate the java environment. So is that going to be the solution? Google OS will just Emulate what it can’t do itself? Is that REALLY what we want from an OS?
Oh, and might i say that Google chrome is NOT perfect. In fact, there are a LOT of websites that simply do not work with chrome, or stuff up because of it. In fact, a password of mine got locked out because google chrome was not transmitting the password correctly. Had to wait 20 minutes, and try again thorugh IE for it to work.
While I am heavily biased agains everything Mac… i agree that limiting the number of OS’s out there is better for everyone. As a developer, i am happy knowing that if i write my code in .NET, most people are going to be able to run my code. My target audience is clearly segregated into clear and concise groups. Google OS risks an overlap in audience, in that a developer should be able to target a type of user (i.e: Buisness workers = Generally Windows, Casual Gamers = Generally Console, Network Administrators, low cost= Generally Unix, Advertising Companies = Generally Mac, etc). Google OS at the moment risks increasing this because then we need to consider the Audience, then the audience using Google OS because google OS risks being good for everyone… but not everyone will adopt it risksing plitting our audiences down the middle. If google OS were to win in the netbook market outright, when developing code people are going to have to think “Okay, so we need to make a program that our client can run at both work and on the move. Oh, hang on, their mobile workspaces use Google OS, so we need to make one version to run under .NET, and another for Google OS. Oh, and we may also need to take into account those arty-farty designers using Macs. Hang on, our severs are linux… oh crap”… etc etc.
P.s: please don’t take offence at any generalizations or stereotypes i have made. While that is mostly unresearched, the technical factors are from my own experiences.
Meh, I know there is a lot of love for this in the ANTI-Microsoft crowd and most of the articles I have read have been written about this in that manner but talking about Window vs Google OS is kinda like talking about Warcraft and every other MMO out there. The scales are just so different and what one consider successful and the other bigger company might not. It is human nature to want to watch big things come crashing down but in reality its a rare thing for these huge companies just to fall apart over night. If they are run in a honest(books wise) and business friendly manner must corporations will out live us all. Competition is good but being something different isn’t enough to get people to change. I see this doing about as well as Warhammer. Its something to fill time til windows 7 comes out just like Warhammer filled the gap between the end of the Sunwell and Wrath.
I think a lot of folks miss the point with this. I don’t see it as an alternative to a full OS like you have with a full-on desktop or laptop. I see this as a more flexible, potentially universal, alternative to how the iPhone is used. Nobody really “goes there” when it comes to discussing its OS and don’t particularly see it in that context. But there are an awful lot of people that would like to do the things the iPhone apps let you do who don’t want to do it on a phone or who can’t. This potentially fills a niche with those people, who simply want something that works, easily and quickly. Because a laptop can be a pain on the road, regardless of their intent and design, and the power at your fingertips in an iPhone is appealing but limited by its delivery device in certain ways. Tweener products often have a rough start though.