Google Operating System planned

[ponder]

will be interesting to see if they compete with ubuntu..

I suspect it will probably use ubuntu as it's core seeing google have been running a customised ubuntu internally for years.

 

[SlinkyMike]

Chrome OS will go the way Chrome browser went... yet another unnecessary option. If this is all Google can come up with maybe they ought to stick to search engines.

 

[porchrat]

Actually pretty much any Linux distro will work .. You may just need to tweak some more than others...

I just got an Acer Aspire One recently and I'm running Fedora 11 on it now.

puppy linux would probably be awesome on a netbook, runs completely in RAM.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

So what the current list of viable OSs for a netbook?

* Ubuntu (heard it's the best)
* Moblin
* Windows CE
* Windows XP
* Windows 7 (Heard it runs quite well)
* Google Android

Any I'm missing? I'm thinking of getting me a netbook. Just pondering what I'm going to put on it.

Should try Windows CE on my netbook. The joke about Windows TAX is the licence is 50c (US) per CPU. This is a price quoted for a South African project.

Currently use Ubuntu and loved Moblin except is has no 3G support!!!

 

[icyrus]

Problem is... I need this now. Using Puppy Linux and Sugar in the meanwhile. Ubuntu also has a nice netbook edition. Problem is, stupid users still manage to break those installations. I need a rock solid OS that can stand the fiddling of moronic users.

How are your users breaking those installations? Wouldn't it make sense to implement certain security policies in the meantime?

This seems more like a challenge to Ubuntu than to MS in the netbook arena. I wonder which is more popular. OSS netbooks or MS netbooks.

Last I heard MS based netbooks were significantly more popular, could be wrong though.

 

[general_koffi]

Problem is... I need this now. Using Puppy Linux and Sugar in the meanwhile. Ubuntu also has a nice netbook edition. Problem is, stupid users still manage to break those installations. I need a rock solid OS that can stand the fiddling of moronic users.

Sounds like you want something from Apple.

 

[Ockie]

I thinkg Google Chrome OS has got the potential to really shake up the OS market. When you mention Linux or Ubuntu etc the general public will merely shurg and go "huh?"

When you say Google however a light flicks on over their head

If Google gets their marketing right and software companies etc develops applications for this OS because there is a general public interest in this OS then it can and will do very very well I think.

 

[eltherza]

I work for a software development company and projects that worked fine in IE, FF, Opera and even Safari did not work out of the box with Chrome.

Strange that one, considering that chrome and safari use the same engine to render webpages?

Chrome os? well, I wouldnt use it... maybe set up a virtual machine and play around for a bit... but I dont think it'll be OS worthy for a while.

 

[EtienneK]

Chrome os? well, I wouldnt use it... maybe set up a virtual machine and play around for a bit... but I dont think it'll be OS worthy for a while.

It must be horrible to go through life this close-minded.

 

[Ockie]

The HTC rep was here with me yesterday and he brought a HTC Magic Android phone for me to have a look at. Android is very responsive and the look and feel is neat and clean. If Google can apply the same to Chrome OS, then I think they will do very well. It is early days for Android for sure, but my personal opinion is that it is a great OS for cell phones...Chrome OS might just surprise us and give MS a run for their money....but lets wait and see what they come up with. I for one would love to use it and see what it is like.

 

[d0b33]

Android is meant for netbooks too, Google OS is more of a web based cloud OS.

 

[Ockie]

Cloud computing is OK...specially for companies where bandwidth is in abundance...but that would not do well in a country like South Africa where bandwidth hungry applications such as cloud applications will be rather expensive for individual users to run on a daily basis. Besides, it must still have some applications installed or give you at least the option of installing things like CD/DVD burning software etc.

 

[EtienneK]

Android is meant for netbooks too, Google OS is more of a web based cloud OS.

No it's not. From slashdot:

Zaiff Urgulbunger writes "After years of speculation, Google has announced Google Chrome OS, which should be available mid-2010. Initially targeting netbooks, its main selling points are speed, simplicity and security — which kind of implies that the current No.1 OS doesn't deliver in these areas! The Chrome OS will run on both x86 and ARM architectures, uses a Linux kernel with a new windowing system. According to Google, '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 says that this new OS is separate from Android, as the latter was designed for mobile phones and set-top boxes, whereas Chrome OS is designed 'for people who spend most of their time on the web.'" The New York Times' coverage is worth reading, and there are stories popping up all over the web.

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/0...unces-Chrome-OS-For-Release-Mid-2010?from=rss

 

[d0b33]

No it's not. From slashdot:


http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/0...unces-Chrome-OS-For-Release-Mid-2010?from=rss

Always better to quote the source like google itself...

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

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

Also..

Acer is releasing Android for the Acer One netbook in Q3 2009.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=4735/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/03/acer-shows-off-android-on-a-netbook-sneaks-firefox-into-the-pro/

Linux baby!

 

[Ockie]

I knew I read somewhere about a netbook that is going to be releasing a model with Android on it, but could not remember where or what brand...and seeing you guys quoting etc I did not want to post and then told to back up my claim haha. Thanks Aqua....no I know that i was not dreaming

 

[d0b33]

I knew I read somewhere about a netbook that is going to be releasing a model with Android on it, but could not remember where or what brand...and seeing you guys quoting etc I did not want to post and then told to back up my claim haha. Thanks Aqua....no I know that i was not dreaming

Yup, and it's an Acer aspire one which is cool, Asus have sold out to Microsoft.

 

[Ockie]

Do you guys know if you can download the Android netbook version somewhere? And if so, can you run it as a live CD? Would be interesting to take it for test drive on my laptop and see what it is like.

 

[d0b33]

Do you guys know if you can download the Android netbook version somewhere? And if so, can you run it as a live CD? Would be interesting to take it for test drive on my laptop and see what it is like.

Android is more of a SDK that companies modify and release for a specific device, you'll have to wait for Acer to release the netbook and get that image to try on a similar netbook.

 

[EtienneK]

Linux baby!

Although Android uses the Linux kernel, none of the Linux apps are compatible with it at vice versa. Ubuntu are busy developing a runtime environment for Android apps, though.

 

[eltherza]

It must be horrible to go through life this close-minded.

Strangely enough, it's actually quite nice here. How is the heroine addiction going... oh wait, or you were a bit closed minded before trying it?

If you read into what this OS is meant to do is web applications and web 'lifestyle', and as open minded as I may or may not be, my work tools are not available online "in the cloud". So welcome to the real world where OS are actually important.

So I'll restate "I dont think it'll be OS worthy for a while." And until it does, it will live in a virtual machine as a toy.