google o/s - will it or wont it?


timewarp78

Still Fresh
Joined
Oct 4, 2008
Messages
23
Inevitable question really. The planned google o/s is said to be initially for netbooks running x86 and ARM archtecture. So do you recon that includes Pandora?
I presume that with it being open source, it will be free? Although if it's by Google there will probably be ads.
 
"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."
 
In theory, yes, GCOS will be able to be run on the Pandora. The question is, will you want it to? It's not scheduled for release until 2010 sometime. From my investigations, it's a browser OS. It boots a custom linux kernel and window manager that does nothing but load Google Chrome. All applications are HTML and JS based, with minimal or no support for native apps, so I don't imagine it'll be all that great for gaming. Office apps are likely to be of the Google Docs type. Any apps that run on it should therefore also run on any standards compliant browser; ie Firefox, which will already be installed with default OS install.
Further, it's designed to come up fast so you can get to your web browser and email without a long boot time, but the Pandora as an effective "always on" device doesn't have the long boot time.
You will, of course, be welcome to install whatever OS you want, but can you come up with a reason to prefer GCOS over the default Angstrom install?
 
one thing about cloud computing, you need an internet connection for everything... and if all you have is a weak wifi signal and slow tx rate... that means everything is going to be slow... Most of all, if you're doing cloud computing, there isn't really any need for local storage space since everything is done on a web page, so all your files are going to be uploaded to some web drive or storage space (which will make things slower again).... I dunno, it would be cool if you had a fast WiFi connection at hand, but your computer would be useless without internet (say playing games in the car on a road trip)
 
IMHO, Pandora should stick close to Google (Google/Chrome OS, Android or just e.g. Google voice) prods. At least as those are open source products. If Pandora succeed (that's what we expect, right?) as a game handheld console, it will probably clash someway/somehow with competition: MS (Zune), Sony or Nintendo's products. And that could not be a fair fight. Connecting with Google could prevent some unfair moves.
 
If you want to have a good internet signal all the time they need to get good Wimax drivers for linux. It would be a good way to go if you have Wimax in your area.
 
Back
Top