Google's Chrome OS Finally Coming in June?
Chrome OS netbooks may start hitting the market as early as June.
While Microsoft is reportedly gearing up to offer us a taste of Windows 8 on tablets this June, Google is still scrambling to get its Chrome OS off the ground and into consumers' hands. The latest rumored launch date pins Q2 2011 as the prime target, possibly as early as June-- just in time to crash Microsoft's big Windows-8-on-a-tablet coming-out-of-the-closet party.
According to unnamed sources, Google is currently working on retail deals with manufacturers and suppliers. Three companies named to be testing the new OS on a factory level are Acer, Asus, and Samsung, two of which supposedly claim that Google's platform is an "optimized experience" for netbooks with both 3G and Wi-Fi options.
When Google's operating system eventually arrives, it will come in two flavors: Chrome OS and Chromium OS. The former is the closed, commercialized version that will only be available to manufacturers for their specific netbooks, notebooks or whatever else they choose to sell with the software installed. However, each device will come packed with a disc containing Chromium OS-- the open-source development version of Chrome OS-- for installing on any other machine.
Although no specific release dates have been given, Chrome OS devices are expected to cost somewhere between $250 and $600. But at this point, we have to wonder if Google waited too long in releasing Chrome OS for netbooks given that tablets are currently cannibalizing the netbook sector. Maybe Chrome OS will swoop in and save the day.
The first official signs of Chrome OS appeared back in December 2010 with the launch of Google's Cr-48 Chrome notebook pilot program. A limited number of applicants received a free Chrome OS-based notebook/netbook in return for user feedback. However Google has since halted shipments and revealed little else about its upcoming software since.
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I have a CR-48 and I can honestly say its not ready. While I am on dev build, I experince way too many freezes/crashes. But, Google Is very quick to fix those bugs. Only took them a couple days after they released a patch that had a bug in it to fix that bug. I'm currently running Chrome OS 11 Dev. Its is a good OS though and they are right to say this fills in the part of the market that Windows 7 can't.
YESSSS I CANT WAIT
Will Chrome OS be able to run Android apps or Linux Apps, or would it need its own developed programs?
hoping to evenhually try this on my arm based notebook
will this be a linux killer?
Cloud computing (and Chrome OS by extension) is hella ghey... Why not a real Linux distro instead? Oh, yeah... because Microsoft will drop the cost of Windows to $0 or even pay OEMs not to launch Ubuntu netbooks, and because Google won't stand behind something that doesn't belong to them.
will this be a linux killer?
How can a Linux based OS be a Linux killer?
whatever it will be, it will change the game
Cloud computing (and Chrome OS by extension) is hella ghey... Why not a real Linux distro instead? Oh, yeah... because Microsoft will drop the cost of Windows to $0 or even pay OEMs not to launch Ubuntu netbooks, and because Google won't stand behind something that doesn't belong to them.
I think cloud is a horrible idea for an Operating system, and will hurt PC gaming if it takes off, much like how intel did with its integrated graphics before sandy bridge; what company wouldn't insure their computers that run cloud are cheep on parts and never have the power to play PC games.
And so far its not looking like you have a choice in the matter if you Bought a Cloud OS computer. Have they mentioned anything about hardware flexibility? customization?
Why would u want google to handle your searches, email, web browser, phone, and now OS? No thank you
Why would u want google to handle your searches, email, web browser, phone, and now OS? No thank you
Why would you criticize one of the safest and largest things out there, consider how many people use Google related things every day and how many times they use it.
Then consider how many of those people are trying to steal all of the information from hundreds of million of Google account owners.
Now ask yourself this, how many have succeeded?
@jskilnyk: Instability is the price you pay for being on the dev channel. The beta channel has been very, very solid, with few problems, about on a par with XP.
I have zero interest in gaming, so no loss there for me.
Re netbooks vs tablets, I want a real keyboard, not some damned virtual keyboard on a screen. If the retail Chrome OS portables come in at half the price of an iPad, with the same battery life, they have a chance.
For me, the biggest drawback of Chrome OS is also one of its potential strong points: You can't do much with/to it. Customization opportunities consist of changing the theme, installing extensions and "apps" (which rarely do more than web page links). As an incorrigible Linux tweaker, the lack of access frustrates me; on the other hand, after working in computer development/support for 30 years, I know that a huge portion of the people who use computers know next to nothing about them (and don't want to know anything about how they work), and just want something that works. There is a lot to be said for a secure operating system that requires essentially no maintenance, is unbreakable by the end user, and is immune to malware. Prior to Chrome OS, Apple's OS X came closest to delivering a computer as an appliance; Chrome OS is even farther along this continuum.
The game changing part of the Chrome net/notebook program may be the inclusion of 3G cellular by default. 3G is rarely a standard feature in portable computers, and even iPads cost more if you want 3G. I rarely use the 3G capability because I live where Wi-Fi is nearly ubiquitous, but when I am out in the boonies, the 3G capability is a lifesaver, and for me, the basic 100mb/month data plan has been just right.
Why would u want google to handle your searches, email, web browser, phone, and now OS? No thank you
Most people do. 'Why not,' is the question. Do you have an answer? What do you use in place of these services? Yahoo? AskJeeves? AOL Keywords?
I have a CR-48 and I can honestly say its not ready.
Agreed 100%. I also have a CR-48, use it on almost a daily basis. It is not ready to be released yet. There are still alot of bugs. As said already, google is fast to fix those bugs, however bugs is the least of Chrome OS' worries.
They need better support for devices (hell I can't even plug in my GOOGLE android phone on a GOOGLE notebook WTF) such as phones cameras, usb drives, etc. They also need a better file manager to handle the upload and download of files to usb devices. They need a WAY better media player, and they also need a homescreen and bigger hard drive (not too big, maybe 50gb) so you can store files on your homescreen. Thats the majority of my complaints, not counting the issues that manufacturers need to tackle such as faster cpu, better video card, bigger hard drive possibly, etc. Chrome OS DEFINATELY has its perks (I still use it daily with all my pet peeves), but it still needs development.
There are still alot of bugs.
How much time do you allot to bug finding/reporting? It can tale a lot of time.
How much time do you allot to bug finding/reporting? It can tale a lot of time.
If you have ever used a Cr-48 you will understand. You don't go bug finding, the bugs find you. There are issues with all things. I constantly have my flash player getting overloaded and crashing, if you click from one youtube vid to another really fast it can crash. 75% of java sites crash, and a bug that is starting more frequently lately is crashing tabs. I can be on a very "light" site and all of a sudden boom! tab crashes, for example I was looking up parts for my car the other day. I had jegs, summit racing, and radarbusters.com all opened in individual tabs. When I added a part to my cart on summit racing, it crashed that tab and the other two aswell.
I honestly do not see the point for Chrome OS. There have been alternatives for years.
I honestly do not see the point for Chrome OS. There have been alternatives for years.
There have...but casual users don't go looking for new goodies to try out. They use what is spoon-fed to them. So, if this is ready-to-consume and is a viable alternative, why not give users a different experience! Maybe it'll open their eyes to other alternatives...or at least the option to try out other things.
> I honestly do not see the point for Chrome OS. There have been alternatives for years.
For folks that want
1. Inexpensive hardware/software
2. reliability
a. don't worry about OS getting infected (stateless, digitally signed/verifiable kernel)
b. don't worry about backing up your machine.
c. don't worry about hardware crashes.
d. automatic software updates.
3. long battery life
4. fast startup (small SSD disk, which is cheaper than hard disk and faster)
5. simple
6. when away from home, only need access to web-based stuff
7. can run Google Voice for free phone calls.
8. e-books
9. music/videos
Other folks already have computers at home (me) and just want a light-weight, inexpensive, reliable machine
to take with them. For some, it will be their phone. Others, want a keyboard for emails and a larger screen.
The ipad or MAC Air is also a reasonable choice but costs much more.