Google Operating System Coming 2010

Well this is interesting. The nerds at Google want to get into the OS business.

Link to Google Announcment:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

Credit to Engadget.com where I learnt about it:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/google-announces-chrome-os/2#comments

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.

 

hm okay..

first, vlc 1.0, then, gmail out of beta. now this.

what sort of nightmare/dream i'm in right now?

 

Is GMail really out of beta? Cool, then google chrome must be right behind then ... These folks are good ...

cheers ...

 

yes it is. so are their other big webapps. word, excel and those clones

 

Yea the timing is... interesting. Still, the news isn't terribly surprising. It seemed to be only a matter of time before Google made their own OS.

 

that's true. but from what i read, it won't really be an os for me. i'm still an offline-guy. i want to own my stuff, have it "in my hands" (on my disks/flash).

the thing i love most about google currently is google wave. espencially, as everyone can setup it's own server in the future => the data is not on googles servers, or anywhere out in the webldebl. i hope to be able to install google wave on my home server, then. would be reaaaally cool

when's wave out of beta?

but one thing that interests me about the os: do they get it to boot as fast as chrome? that looks to be one of the goals and would be fun


about the timing: all google news got launched at the 7.7. maybe that's the reason

 

Lucky number 7, perhaps?

And I've never heard of Google Wave... time to do some research

 

google wave is... o god, i hate those web2 slang things.. email 2.0

 

What I am interested in is the use of open source utilities by Google. And the royalty fees ;-)

It is one thing to use Open Source for personal uses, but when you take all the open sources and package them into a product and use it to earn income (from ads per example), then it will become interesting.

Example is if Google uses VLC within its OS for media player - this in my mind would no longer constitute "personal" usage.

cheers ...

 

Interesting point, I haven't really considered that before. Taking something that other people have developed under the pretense of being offered for free, modifying it and selling it doesn't exactly seem right or ethical.

But, that sounds like a discussion for another thread

 

Cloud computing, huh?

I'll never do it. Even if it were practical for my usage I don't want to have my stuff - the stuff I use to make a living - on a server controlled by a company in another country.

Hell, I don't even like IMAP ...

Privacy issues aside, this is pretty useless to me, although every other week or so I stumble upon people who think that webmail is the only form of mail and have no clue as to why one would use or even need a mail client.

Sigh, if this gets big, we're bombed back decades when it comes to useability and especially privacy.

 

HAHAHA I called it!

Few months ago (not sure how many), I actually posted a poll asking how many people would buy a Google OS.

Wow, odd. Dang I'm good though....

 

I tried Chrome, didn't like it. Then I read it was collecting data as you used it. It's just another company that wants to become the 21st century Microsoft. IOW they want to own all. Interesting to see how the government feels about that.

I've tried Ubuntu, i've used Classic, OSX and I still go back to Windows admittedly as much as I complain. It's never perfect and sometimes we get annoyed at MS but they listen as usually is the case. Vista was meh out of the box and now it's turned into a decent OS. I still prefer XP for my gaming needs.

Hopefully W7 will allow me to play all of my games both new and old at the same performance level that I currently get on XP.

 

I wonder if the EULA will have a clause about all the work you do on it belonging to Google (remember the original Chrome beta release?).

I'm not impressed, truly. I only consider Android because OEMs have the option to put it out without any Google applications or ties.

They're just throwing too much stuff out there...

 

All I can say is: the implicit arrogance is simply breath-taking, like Napoleon before Waterloo, or Nixon before Watergate.

 

Yeah Google Operating System with a Google Browser , EU might have something to say about that

 

Anyone else remember how well Ubuntu did? 5% marketshare, on netbooks?

What really makes this a compelling alternative to Windows?

 

1) Microsoft haters

2) or it's free

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTd2k.YdQZ.Y

"Google is trying to encourage people to spend more time online to fuel demand for Internet ads, which accounted for more than 90 percent of its 2008 revenue of $21.8 billion. In the first quarter of this year, Google had its first sequential sales drop since it went public in 2004 as the recession prompted companies to curb advertising spending."

--------------------------------------------------
Could you imagine launching a Google app in their OS and getting a Netflix or teeth whitening pop-up ad instead?

 

Bingo! You win the grand prize!

 

Although that is probably what is going on, I wonder if it's pure speculation by Brian Womack. Unfortunately, it's not a quote and there is no reference as to where that tidbit came from.

 

Even if it's pure speculation, it's pretty well-founded in common sense. Still, it would be better to have a more confirmed foundation on which to speculate.

 

It will be interesting to see if this OS can really be a rival to the might windows empire.

I myself don't care for cloud computing I prefer to have my files on my own hard drive and not on some distant server(s) which I have no control over.

 

Like it or not cloud computing is happening and will happen. I'm a beta tester for EA Sports Tiger Woods Online. I can't get into specifics because of my NDA with Electronics Arts but one thing I can tell you without hestitation is that Tiger Woods Online will not reside on your hard drive. It sits on EA servers and the game is streamed to your computer.

 

For gaming, that's probably the only way to prevent the piracy that otherwise makes it non-profitable to develop games for pcs. For other areas of application, that may not be such a strong motivator.

 

If this works as planned. I can see this being the death of Linux.

 

I wouldn't go quite that far. One of the big attractions of linux is that it's yours, on your little box, for you to monkey around with as you please. I don't think that's going to really square with the google-collective.

 

Isn't this supposed to be a Linux distro that launches into a browser like the CrunchPad?

 

Why am I not surprised by this news

At first I was like this is going to Faill but after reading the blog I think it's really quite interesting. It might just be the future of OSs...who knows.

 

I knew the day would come.
For better or worse, I support Google all the way.
It's not quite the death of Linux, because there are more supporters for linux. But, another open source OS will be good....
Microsoft, prepare yourself.

 

I don't think so. Linux fills some very specific niches that even Windows can't really compete with ATM.

Personally I am supportive of a new OS in the market, especially since it is open source. It will probably do amazing in the netbook market. However, I just don't see how Chrome OS will break out of the netbook market; developers didn't seem to make any mention of that, and their vision of Chrome OS is pitifully equipped for competition in the desktop/laptop market.

 

Lets try out this. The descriptions sounds that it will be one of the best but lets see. I am eager to get on my hands on this OS.

 

Don't take this personally, but what, exactly, should Microsoft be preparing itself for? Netbooks were never Microsoft's bread and butter, and never will be.

 

Competition is always good! Who can say that Google will only make this Chrome OS for netbook? From the search engine to Gmail, Android, and browser, Google has been going directly head to head with microsoft. Netbook is just a start.

 

Who here uses GOOG's (terribly inadequate) document app. in a professional environment?

(I believe the answer to this question is demonstrative to how the Chrome OS will be embraced by small and large businesses alike.)

 

The EU would only complain if google were to put a price tag. Since it's going to be free, i don't think they have a case .

 

Competition is good, agreed.

Google has said they plan on targeting netbooks, at least to start.
Source: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

Of those services you mentioned, only the browser (and maybe Android) is going directly head-to-head with Microsoft. Search and mail aren't Microsoft's forte at all. Google docs and this new OS is going head-to-head with Microsoft, since Office and Windows are why Microsoft is around, not because of Bing.

 

all i can really say is even if google does make their chrome OS for more than just netbooks i'll never use it. The only reason i use windows right now is because wine's not gotten to the point where i can game in all of my games comfortably yet but i still use linux for alot of other things. A web-based OS isn't my thing at all. I like my stuff, in my place, on my hard drive, doing it's own things and not being shared with anyone else unless i specifically share it with them. I don't use chrome and kinda didn't after a bit of beta testing simply because it lacks customization. If google's chrome os will be the same i'll not use it either or even look at it.

One of the other reason that the linux distros do as well as they do is because of custimization factor. For example i know of on Gnome, i have seen ~300 different desktop customizations that i liked and might use some day. Where as windows has maybe 1-2 on all but 7. 7 has like 4. Google's OS will probably be the same as chrome lacking any of my favorite abilities to customize.

Linux will never die as the google chrome os is linux based it will still be a linux but will be for the google fanboys. I use gmail through thunderbird, and for web firefox, OS is 7/Ubuntu 9.04. Linux'll never die and neither will microsoft in the near future. Till linux can do everything that microsoft's os can do and be preinstalled on pcs windows will never die.

 

Not at all; it should be reasonably easy to make a tying arrangement argument between the OS/Browser pairing and the advertising revenue. Since Google dominates in online ad revenue, anything that tends to backstop its dominance in that area, and providing an OS/Browser pair will almost certainly raise the presumption of that - just ask Microsoft how the EU views things like this - with the result that Google may be forced to take steps to dilute the benefits it would otherwise gain from the combination.

 

I LOVE google projects , really fast, easy , productive

 

i love google wave. it's not google server and data collecting related. i love that, finally a part of google understands how much that is worth.

 

When enterprise customers are willing to put all of their internal "stuff" on google's servers and trust that they haven't just left their "privates" swinging in the breeze, then google's OS might present some serious competition to Microsoft, but not 'til then, I think.

 

Two questions:

1) What OS will the servers be using to host the Google OS? I cannot imagine that the servers will be streaming their Google OS in order to be operational and to serve the Google OS to others. Somewhere there must be an installed OS that provides a backbone for all of the cloud computing. And that backbone represents the kind of reliability I want on my own personal computer.

2) What sort of computing experience can people expect when their ISP is down? Yesterday there was big trouble for Verizon in the Washington D.C. region. I usually have very fast and very reliable FiOS service in my office. However, I had nothing yesterday. Credit card purchases in the region were limited by this disruption in service. So on bootup would the Google OS report a 101 Error? "Sorry, OS does not exist or has been renamed."

No thanks.

Jeremy

 

The "Google OS" is just a crippled version of Linux, that will come with only rudimentary services and a browser. The assumption is that any applications you run will be run as "web apps", through the browser. I think the whole idea is pretty much a joke, although not quite as funny as the ignorant babble you see in some parts of the press, who (in the Chicago Tribune) went as far as touting the "Google OS" as the biggest challenge to Windows 7. Jeeze...

 

^ Personally I'm not very impressed by how Google is borrowing Linux unless they plan to collaborate with kernel developers; ie, provide patches or fix any bugs. Any company that plans to benefit from Linux should try to give something back to the community.

 

Here comes the long predicted cataclysm between the commercial software and free software communities.

The "socialistic" model (I say that with NO intent of any sort of ill connotation) of the free software community has, in my mind, always been flawed for two reasons. All the folks contributing to these efforts are not making any money, (begging the question how long before they have to figure out how to put food on their own kids tables). Yes, I know all about the companies that spring up to support Linux etc. But explain to me how that pays for the food on the PROGRAMMERS kid's table. And second they are set up for some commercial venture to take total advantage of them by making millions on their backs.

Now, DO NOT, I repeat do not, equate my criticism of free software with any knock on open source. The two are VERY different. Open source is not the same as free source, although many projects are both. But there is no reason why they have to be so.

As a professional programmer, I ask any other sort of laborers out there, how many of you would embrace the idea of a group of your peers offering to do work for free that competed in your commercial environment (not charity work, mind you, but true commercial work)? What would it do to YOUR livelihood?

I am now donning my asbestos suit, waiting for the slings, arrows and fireballs that are about to be tossed my way, because I dare to say that the free software emperor has no clothes.

Gary

 

Conchiglia, read Chris Anderson’s, Wired magazine's editor-in-chief, scintillating new book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. Free addresses the altruism~self-interest schisms you question.

 

Gary makes a good, very fundamental point, however, namely: if it really was economically efficient to produce the free software that gets produced, then someone would have be producing it for a profit. That means one of two things, either (a) there is a disguised profit going on, which means the whole racket is essentially disengenous (profit is not just measured in whether you get dollar bills back - just ask Joe Biden about his "free" car and driver), or (b) the software isn't economically worthwhile, resources devoted to producing it are wasted, and it would be foolhardy to force free-source on anyone who doesn't wish to participate.

 

It is based on Linux. It will work like android. Google will lay their own framework on top of a regular Linux kernel. to the contrary, if this work it will boost Linux market share.

 

OT- I don't know if this has been asked before. I am failing to see why a thread about a Google OS is in the Windows section? I'm not sure where it should go, but perhaps the off topic section?

Now on topic I think Google should try different projects than rather just try to compete with competitors.
Really how many applications do we need to do just one task. While competition helps things grow faster and gives users more of choice, wouldn't trying something new serve more of a propose, than trying to compete with one more aspect of computer software. Especially if this "new" OS is just going to be based off a Linux kernel it seems rather pointless.