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Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Cyber Cynic

Five things Chrome OS isn't

96 comments

TAGS:Chrome OS, desktop linux, Google, Linux
IT TOPICS:Desktop Applications, E-Business & Web 2.0, Emerging Technology, Hardware, Internet, Laptops & Netbooks, Linux, Open Source, Operating Systems, SaaS & Cloud Computing, Security, Software

Some people still seem a little confused about what Chrome OS is and isn't, so here's my quick guide to what's really what with this forthcoming operating system.

1. Ready yet

I'm already seeing people proclaiming that Chrome OS is awful. Uh, people: it's not even beta yet. Yes, even now Google Chrome OS works pretty darn well, but what we're seeing now isn't even close to what will eventually be shipping. Announcing that it's already a failure or that it deserves a 'D-' grade is at best ignorant, and at worse deliberate anti-Linux and anti-Google FUDing.

Heck, even I, who has little love for Windows, waited for Vista to be in beta before I started kicking it around. Give it a chance.

2. A Windows desktop replacement

I go into that why Chrome OS is not going to replace Windows in some detail in an earlier post. Chrome OS is meant to eventually overturn the PC-centric desktop model, but no matter how successful Chrome OS ends up being in the short run, many users will still need to run Windows, Mac OS X, Ubuntu, or another full-scale desktop operating system.

3. Able to run Android or other Linux applications on Chrome OS.

All, and I mean all, of Chrome OS's applications are Web applications. You will be able to run Google Docs or even Microsoft's Office Live, but you won't be able to run OpenOffice, never mind Microsoft Office.

Top 5 Chrome OS myths debunked

While Google hasn't quite ruled this out completely, if you read Chrome OS's design documents, it's pretty darn clear that unless an application is already in the Linux kernel or is needed to run a Chrome device's peripherals, Google won't let it run on Chrome OS. Remember what I just said about Chrome OS not being a replacement for a full desktop? This design decision is one of the reasons I say that.

Could Chrome OS be made into a complete PC-centric Linux desktop? Sure. But that's not what Google is doing. Chrome OS is an Internet-based operating system; only the bare minimum of applications will actually live on Chrome OS computers.

4. More secure than Windows

Yes and no. Yes, Chrome OS takes radical steps to make sure that it's more secure than any other desktop operating system. On the other hand, it's also stuck with a login/password system and all its inherent problems, such as that login/password on any Chrome device will let any hacker access all your data.

As I read over Google's Chrome OS security documentation, I sometimes feel that Google is building a beautiful bank vault with a cheap combination lock in the front. Before Chrome devices start shipping, Google has to come up with a better answer.

5. Ready to run on your computer.

This is another question with a yes and no answer. Yes, even now you can run Chrome OS on VirtualBox or other virtualization programs. We did that in our review of the Chrome OS alpha release.

You can also compile Google OS from the source code. For those who haven't done that kind of thing before, there's a decent guide on how to compile and build Chrome OS using Ubuntu. I've done both. Either way, it works well.

Although power users will be able to run Chrome OS in virtual machines, and hardcore Linux users can build their own version of Chrome OS from the source code, Google has no plans to market do-it-yourself Chrome OS. Instead, the plan is for numerous vendors to sell users laptop and other computing devices with SSD (solid-state drives) with Chrome OS already installed.

If you're a techie, you can certainly run Chrome OS, but for the vast majority of users, their first hands-on experience of Chrome OS will be on a laptop that comes with it pre-installed sometime in the fall of 2010.

Put it all together and you have a fascinating operating system, which is still at a very early stage of development. Since Chrome OS is built on an Ubuntu foundation and uses the Chrome browser for its desktop interface, it looks and feels more mature than it actually is. I'm enjoying playing with it, and I'm going to be very interested in seeing how it works out in the long run. But one thing Chrome OS certainly isn't yet is ready for any kind of final verdict.

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All the hostility...

Submitted by Barry on December 17, 2009 - 8:40 P.M.

If anyone else actually makes it through all the comments, please take the time to note where all the name calling is going. Some people have negative opinions about Microsoft, some have negative opinions about Google or Chrome OS. The third set seems to mostly have negative opinions about the author and/or Linux supporters. Sure, there's been some anti-Linux talk, but usually mixed with a healthy dose of calling folks 'idiots', 'retards', 'losers', or some ingenious acronym-based pun to the same effect.
As a guy who works in Windows, has a Windows machine at home, and programs Perl for Linux servers for a living (over a Samba share), let me be the first to say that different OSs have their merits and flaws, as do the companies that make them. How will ChromeOS be any different? If you took such extreme offense to the term 'obsolete', retort with the reasons ChromeOS will not be making (insert favorite OS here) 'obsolete', but please, not by chastising individuals or groups with vile, inflammatory name-calling.
Looking back on the posts, the MS pundits seem to come across as hurt and lashing out, whereas almost everyone else is either stating a valid opinion or requesting that others look from another point of view.
Can't we all be rational? Reading all these comments at the end of a work day really made me feel bad about how people choose to express their opinions and emotions. Get a grip!
ChromeOS is a new thinking for a new market; devices are not desktops, and ChromeOS will at best be an ancillary way of computing until the overall computing landscape shifts directions. I applaud the author for at least attempting to envision the results of its release, regardless of any complaints I may have about semantics.

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Hi!

Submitted by Anonymous on November 27, 2009 - 8:38 A.M.

Hi Steven!

Have you found any jobs lately?

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SJVN backed himself into a corner

Submitted by Anonymous on November 26, 2009 - 11:39 A.M.

But you just wrote that Chrome OS's "mission" is to "make Windows obsolete" only a few days ago! This article was pure backpedaling.

Just for fun, read through this article again, but this time mentally replace every instance of "Chrome OS" with "Linux". It fits perfectly.

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I did read your article.

Submitted by Anonymous on November 27, 2009 - 12:22 A.M.

How is Chrome OS simultaneously not going after Windows yet set to "displace" it? Maybe we should call it Schroedinger OS.

The important part from your "Chrome's mission: Making Windows obsolete" article (I didn't copy all the lamenting over the current state of Linux):

"Google is saying that, for most users, most of the time, Windows is obsolete. And it's not just Windows: Google is telling us that we don't need Office, Outlook, and all the other day-in, day-out Windows applications, either."

Anything but Microsoft, right? So, people are going to pay almost the same amount of money for a machine that does significantly less and relies on the cloud? (Reasoning that XP adds roughly $15 to the price of a netbook; I can't imagine Win7 Starter being much more considering the Starter -> Home Premium upgrade pack costs around $70 retail.) This is just like current Desktop Linux: it won't go anywhere as long as switching is less than a lateral move.

I think they would have been better off coming out with a more netbook-oriented edition of Android. There's no reason you can't go to docs.google.com on Android (or any other OS for that matter, as long as it has a halfway new web browser). At least then you won't have to rely on the cloud, generally feature-spartan Web apps, and having a reliable Internet connection.

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Nice Try, $JVN

Submitted by Carlton Banks on November 27, 2009 - 1:40 P.M.

"Instead, Google is saying that, for most users, most of the time, Windows is obsolete. And it's not just Windows: Google is telling us that we don't need Office, Outlook, and all the other day-in, day-out Windows applications, either.

Google suggests that inexpensive Chrome OS devices, not Windows PCs, are all that most people need for most of their home and office computing. With Chrome OS devices and Web-based services, you won't need to pay the Windows tax or buy Microsoft Office.

It's a radical approach. Google is saying: sure, go ahead and use Windows where you have to — but keep in mind that, for your second computer, or if you don't need high-end PC-specific applications, Chrome OS is all you'll need.

I can see this working. Chrome OS is faster, safer and cheaper. In addition, unlike Windows PCs, Chrome laptops won't require monthly maintenance to keep them running well. In short, Google is trying to make Windows, and all the software that goes with it, obsolete for most users, most of the time."

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SO, Chrom is going to make MS obsolete

Submitted by Anonymous on November 28, 2009 - 10:31 P.M.

Item #1, Chrome isn't ready. Funny, last blog post you said that Chrome is going to make MS obsolete.

Did you consult with Google before you made that little comment or were you putting words in Google's collective mouth?

Sounds like those little things like checking sources (You know, basic homework and ethics) and not just blowing steam bit you in the posterior yet again.

Ahhhh, Such journalistic freedom to be a complete liar, then hide until people forget. Something about ETHICS????? Nope, not here.

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"isn't" != "going to"

Submitted by Anonymous on December 10, 2009 - 7:06 P.M.

"isn't" != "going to"

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"Read more then the

Submitted by Anonymous on November 27, 2009 - 8:58 A.M.

"Read more then the headline"?

I iz lerning to rite n stuff.

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Riddle me this, Batman...

Submitted by Anonymous on November 26, 2009 - 11:58 P.M.

How is Chrome OS simultaneously not going after Windows yet set to "displace" it? Maybe we should call it Schroedinger OS.

The important part from your "Chrome's mission: Making Windows obsolete" article (I didn't copy all the lamenting over the current state of Linux):

Anything but Microsoft, right? So, people are going to pay almost the same amount of money for a machine that does significantly less and relies on the cloud? (Rasoning that XP adds roughly $15 to the price of a netbook; I can't imagine Win7 Starter being much more considering the Starter -> Home Premium upgrade pack costs around $70 retail.) This is just like current Desktop Linux: it won't go anywhere as long as switching is less than a lateral move.

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