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In the world of software, new products of all stripes come out all the time, and rarely is a launch that exciting. But when the launch involves a brand-new operating system, and one that's being developed by none other than Google, people start to pay attention. Yes, I'm of course talking about Chrome OS, an operating system that was only announced this past summer, and hasn't been able to escape daily mention in the news ever since.
Google unveiled the OS for the first time at a low-key press conference yesterday, and it looks almost just as we'd expect. The entire OS is essentially a robust browser, with many tabs found at the top to access various parts of the system, or for various website tabs you might have open. It's important to note that this isn't a desktop OS, and it's absolutely not meant to be, so such a simplified design might prove to be fine for most people running it on a netbook or similar device.
Think that might change? Don't count on it. Apparently, Google is going to have rather tight hardware standards, so it's not going to work without issue on everything. Interestingly, it's not going to support typical HDDs, but rather SSDs. It will support x86 and ARM CPUs, however, which means it will support many mobile devices currently on the market. I wouldn't count on these restrictions as being a bad thing, because Google has released the entire OS as open-source, so there's little doubt that modified versions will come along for use on other platforms.
I'm quite interested to see just where Chrome OS is going to go, because Linux-based OS' for netbooks and the like have been done before, and people always seem to flock back to a Windows-based OS. But given the popularity of Google online applications, this Linux OS in particular might appeal to a much larger crowd of people, and might just put Google on a path to OS super stardom.
Interested in giving the OS a try for yourself? There's actually a torrent available, with a VMware image, and since VMware Player is completely free, as tackled in our news the other day, you have everything you need to see what it's made of. Note that this should be treated as nothing more than a preview, though, because that's what it is. The final version still isn't due until sometime late next year.
As far as going to market, Google's not talking details until the targeted launch at the end of next year, but Chrome OS won't run on just anything -- there'll be specific reference hardware. For example, Chrome OS won't work with standard hard drives, just SSDs, but Google is supporting both x86 and ARM CPUs. That also means you won't be able to just download Chrome OS and go, you'll have to buy a Chrome OS device approved by Google.
Source: Engadget
Google unveiled the OS for the first time at a low-key press conference yesterday, and it looks almost just as we'd expect. The entire OS is essentially a robust browser, with many tabs found at the top to access various parts of the system, or for various website tabs you might have open. It's important to note that this isn't a desktop OS, and it's absolutely not meant to be, so such a simplified design might prove to be fine for most people running it on a netbook or similar device.
Think that might change? Don't count on it. Apparently, Google is going to have rather tight hardware standards, so it's not going to work without issue on everything. Interestingly, it's not going to support typical HDDs, but rather SSDs. It will support x86 and ARM CPUs, however, which means it will support many mobile devices currently on the market. I wouldn't count on these restrictions as being a bad thing, because Google has released the entire OS as open-source, so there's little doubt that modified versions will come along for use on other platforms.
I'm quite interested to see just where Chrome OS is going to go, because Linux-based OS' for netbooks and the like have been done before, and people always seem to flock back to a Windows-based OS. But given the popularity of Google online applications, this Linux OS in particular might appeal to a much larger crowd of people, and might just put Google on a path to OS super stardom.
Interested in giving the OS a try for yourself? There's actually a torrent available, with a VMware image, and since VMware Player is completely free, as tackled in our news the other day, you have everything you need to see what it's made of. Note that this should be treated as nothing more than a preview, though, because that's what it is. The final version still isn't due until sometime late next year.
As far as going to market, Google's not talking details until the targeted launch at the end of next year, but Chrome OS won't run on just anything -- there'll be specific reference hardware. For example, Chrome OS won't work with standard hard drives, just SSDs, but Google is supporting both x86 and ARM CPUs. That also means you won't be able to just download Chrome OS and go, you'll have to buy a Chrome OS device approved by Google.
Source: Engadget