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About LinkBacksRead more.Google has outlined plans to launch an operating system that will go head to head with Microsoft's Windows.
Read more.Google has outlined plans to launch an operating system that will go head to head with Microsoft's Windows.
Meh, it'll be in 'beta' for five years
Sounds interesting - we will have to wait and see how it works out. If, at the end of the day, it's just another linux distro is Google's name and marketing enough to push it onto the desktops of the masses? I'm not sure (right now anyway) why I would want it on my PC.
Crosshair VIII Hero (WIFI), 3900x, 32GB DDR4, Many SSDs, EVGA FTW3 3090, Ethoo 719
Indeed, were going to be stuck for at least the foreseeable future. If your a Gamer you HAVE to have Windows, no choice... (thanks DirectX!)
Let me share this conversation with a friend. I think he's right.
I said :
Hmmmmm. Thin client cloud based computing....
It's never going to be huge with our generation. Maybe in 2030.
He replied:
Thing is, it doesn't need to be huge with our generation to take off and be successful. Take Facebook, myspace etc. All thin-client-based apps: those are what is driving the future and dictating the market at present. We are the exception, with our pc builidng ways.
Society's to blame,
Or possibly Atari.
If they're looking at stripping it down and doing everything "web based" it doesn't sound like it'll be going "head to head" with Windows per se - just looking to cut in on specific markets. With the weight of Google behind it I guess it might do quite well, but I always get worried about the whole "web based" and "online applications" thing - it always feels like a knee-jerk quick-hack response to situations where writing a proper graphical application would be so much better...
Good to see a lot more coming forward to try and take the OS to the next level and make it work on what ever you have at hand and free to boot.
The issue is, taking on what Phage said, those of us who game on the PC and basically the enthusiast are the minority compared to the mass PC market. Until the day someone manages to make an OS that works with everything we already have, games. software, weird bits of hardware from moons ago nothing will take the place of Windows at present unless the market makes a jump and supports every OS out there or future plans for gaming etc.
Shipping an OS is no small feat, I recall some stories from MS about the unforeseen problems from languages to cultural objections (like the minsweeper game being pulled from Windows in countries still plagued by mine fields).
Lets see how lightweight Chrome OS is after support several generations of hardware and business that adopt it are screaming at Google not to make any major changes so compatibility is retained and home users are screaming as Google for not improving things quicker.
This is why companies dont take on Windows because its a nightmare in logistics alone, that said I wish Google luck they certainly have the pockets deep enough to try.
If it actually gains any traction it wont be long before the malware authors will begin to attack the platform.
I would be interested in seeing what they can do OS wise. After using their Android platform for the last several months on the G1 it's a pleasant experience and the marketplace helps to extend the platform. As for the OS, on a netbook it should do alright I will certainly try it on my netbook. Although, Linux was touted to be the be all and end all for netbooks but once again a year or two down the line Windows reigns supreme again...Originally Posted by Kato-2
Interesting times ahead, will be good to see this one unfold.
Logistics is one of the reasons Chrome OS could be a valid competitor - when you deliver web-based services you don't need to ship all over the world, and what the worldwide clients see can be changed instantly with an upgrade at the server end rather than having to push everything to a desktop.
Team up with a particular laptop supplier and mobile broadband provider and that would be a sweet deal. Might take a lot away from the Linux distributions, would be able to run on lower power if it is true cloud computing, hence better battery life. However resident apps would be good that sync with your accounts when you are hooked up to the web.
it should also come with NO Google chrome browser or EU might have somethig to say about it
our boiler broke so we has no heating or hot water, this is the bloody result ^^
Exactly ahait should also come with NO Google chrome browser or EU might have somethig to say about it
I have a strong suspicion there will be a large amount of press coverage of this for a bit now, and when it comes out of beta, but that there will never be a massive userbase..its NEVER going to challenge Windows, but then again I don't think it needs to.
The press release mentions them targeting netbooks, and in this market they definitely have an opportunity. Windows is just not needed on netbooks, sure its fun but its pretty pointless at the end of the day unless you are trying to use them for gaming or productivity..in which case you are crazy lol (go get a laptop!). We do need a decent Linux distro that works on all the popular netbooks right from the EEEPC2G Surfs up to the latest NX10s etc. Xandros just doesn't cut it, Ubuntu sort of works OK but is a bit flakey on my eeepc900 without spending lots of time customising it..and 99% of the other distros out there also need a fair bit of work to make them run nicely.
I can forsee google offering a fairly simple choice for end users, where they really can just stick in the DVD and it will "just work" - like Apple used to offer before they tried to be clever and switched to Intel. It's interesting anyway, lets see where it goes
Each to his own, I guess. If Google think they can make a go if this and knock Windows of it's perch, I wish them the best of luck. Why? Because some serious competition might focus minds at Redmond on the future, and on value for money. It might also focus their minds on precisely what is "essential feature" and what is "unnecessary bloat".
However, to understand my perspective on this, one thing needs to be clear - I don't trust Google any more than I trust MS, and perhaps not even as much. Why? Because MS is an honest company. I hear howls of outrage and gasps of shock at that assertion. Let me explain. I mean "honest company" in the same way as a cynical old definition of an honest politician ..... as one that, one bought, stays bought. MS, as a profit-seeking company, are pretty true to that ethos, and as a result, have at least given us a de facto standard in both OS and office applications, amongst other things. Love 'em or loathe 'em, they have provided benefits by being so ubiquitous, and for all it's faults over the years, Windows is a hell of an improvement over the days when if you bought a new printer, you had to ensure that each individual application you wanted to support had a driver for it or some of your apps could print and the others couldn't.
So, in deciding who to trust, my question is over who is honest. Ms want to be the biggest and make money, and are honest about it. Google, on the other hand, want us all to migrate to cloud computing, online office apps and now, it seems, a castrated OS that, no doubt, puts the focus of actually enabling our PCs to do things onto those online apps .... and therefore into their hands.And I don't believe that Google is run by the online versions of Mother Theresa, Gandhi and the Archangel Gabriel. They want to drive us out of MS grip and into theirs because, one way or another, they want to milk us as cash cows. They're just less honest about how they go about it.
So, personally, I will not use online apps to replace an office suite. MS office does all I need from it, has for a long time and I don't see that changing in the future. Moreover, I will not use online data storage where I put my access to my own data in the hands of a third party ..... or give them access to it.
So my take on Google OS .... yet another "me too" flavour of Linux, but one castrated to suit their particular world view on how our computing future ought to look, but with "Google" where it currently says "Microsoft". Sorry, but I prefer the devil I already know. And if I want Linux, Lord knows there's enough highly competent versions already to choose from that a Google OS doesn't interest me enough to even be bothered to try it when it ships.
Will it do well? Depends on the definition of "well" but, given Google are a large player, it'll probably make a dent. But "replace Windows"? Well, it's only my opinion and I could be wrong, but my view is ..... with lines like that, have they thought about a career on stage .... as a stand-up comic?
Blackmage (09-07-2009),McClane (08-07-2009),this_is_gav (09-07-2009)
Even if i dont use it myself compotition is good and if google can create a linux distro that the masses use even if its just because its "google" its a good thing.
linux is getting better all the time.
the OOTB hardware support is amazing. if it does become a market success companies will write applications that work on it which of course is just linux so i should be able to use those applications on other linux distros to. Good luck google.
btw i dont like the idea of cloud applications eiether.
I want my applications and data on my computer. otherwise if i lose internet connection my computer is about as useful as a brick.
back to the days of thin clients=(
Just another linux distribution ?
Yes, but one made by a big hitter like google could go further than any other.
Not just because of google's brand, but also their software development muscle.
Though chrome browser is fast, it does suffer from its lack of addons which are what make firefox so good...
Maybe I read it wrong, but they may be using their own windowing system as well?
It's not really in direct competition with Windows at this point. Windows is a general purpose operating system, Chrome OS is a specific purpose operating system, basically to provide a bootable browser. Never the less, this is welcomed news for the F/OSS crowd since now there's another industry heavy weight that's going to be pushing code improvements back to various projects, the Linux kernel included.
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