Chrome OS, Google’s freshly announced computer operating program, is coming this autumn and promises to revolutionize netbooks along with other underpowered machines. Basically, the OS is really a small, fast-booting platform whose purpose is to run a browser, and from there all of the Google apps and other net companies you recognize and really like. But why bother? Your netbook previously incorporates a browser and entry to Google’s applications. What could Chrome do for you and your netbook?
Cost
Netbooks are cheap. So cheap that a disproportionately large chunk of the cost is made up of a Windows license. Ever wondered why the Linux versions of netbooks cost around $50 less? Microsoft tax. Chrome OS is based on Linux and will, like most Google products, be free, bringing the price of a $500 netbook down by 10 percent.
Speed
Windows 7 runs faster than Vista on a netbook. Scratch that.
Windows 7 runs on a netbook, period. But Chrome OS is designed to run on low-powered Atom and ARM processors, and web-based applications don’t require that much horsepower on the client end so it should be faster still. Better,
Microsoft Office 2010 Home And Business, it will be modest. Google is promising boot times measured in seconds,
Windows 7 32bit, not minutes, so battery life should also get a boost — it will be possible to cold boot instead of sleeping or hibernating the machine, saving precious juice.
Compatibility
Google says that “[Users] 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.” One of the big problems with using anything but Windows XP on a netbook has been drivers. Try installing OS X on one if you don’t believe us, or any version of Linux not specifically designed for your model. If Google can come up with an OS that can be downloaded, dropped onto any machine and then “just works,” we might just have the ultimate portable OS.
Portability
Netbooks are meant for the road. At home, a bigger personal computer is almost always better but when traveling, a netbook shines. Swapping between the two is often a pain, though. With Chrome,
Office 2007 Key, you can bet that all of Google’s service — Gmail, Google Docs, Picasa and so on — will be built-in and have offline accessibility via Google Gears. If you are a good Google Citizen and use all these solutions,
Office 2007 Pro Plus Key, you’ll never have to worry about having all your latest data with you, whether you have a net connection or not.
New Applications
With its net companies, Google has been slowly duplicating everything that we can do locally on our computers. Almost. There are a few things that Google doesn’t do yet, most notably a video player and a music jukebox. Sure, there’s YouTube, but what happens when you want to watch something other than a skateboarding dog in a blender? There are open-source options: The awesome VLC video player has just reached v1.0, for example, and the Songbird music player,
Office 2010 Product Key, based on Firefox, can even sync with an iPod. Both already run on some flavors of Linux.
Google may use these, buy them or even roll its own. One thing is sure, though: If Google can put out a whole OS that is as clean, quickly and focused as its individual world wide web products, the Chrome OS could be a revolution. A free revolution that could be making Microsoft extremely uncomfortable right now.
Google Announces PC Operating Program to Compete with Windows [Wired - Epicenter]
Product page [Google]
Photo illustration by Charlie Sorrel/Wired.com; Original photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
See Also:
Inside Chrome: The Secret Project to Crush IE and Remake the Internet
Chrome 2.0 Preview Means Mac, Linux Versions Coming Soon
Chrome 2.0 beta Delivers Impressive Speed Bump
What Mozilla Could Learn From Chrome’s ‘Channel Switcher
As MS pushes out IE8, Google Pushes the Envelope with Chrome
Windows 7 32bit Five Things Google’s Chrome OS Wi
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