DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Google Chrome OS

Anyone been keeping up on this?

Even as a happy Mac user, I'm very intrigued by this operating system concept. It uses almost strictly cloud computing to sync all your documents, apps, e-mails, etc.

I wonder what the cost of the notebooks will be, I know Google is charging nothing for companies to use the OS with their hardware. Plus, since it all runs through the internet, it could be a "fast experience without requiring expensive hardware."

I was an avid Chrome browser user when I had my old PC notebook, I've been using Safari since I got the Mac, however. (though I just did re-download Chrome for Mac and I'm finding it to be snappier than Safari)

PPE, I know you keep up on this stuff, what do you think?

If the Google notebook is a relatively cost-effective, it may be an intriguing purchase.

thanks for posting about this. I completely forgot about the Google Os. I am an AVID chrome user, as well as Google Docs and gmail, and basically anything else google I can get my hands on. I won't repost the same question you did, but I would be very interested in some new information as well

I haven't really kept up on this, but here are my off-the-cuff impressions:


My overall notion is that it is a very savvy, yet incredibly expensive (for Google), way to steal instant market share in the Desktop OS arena as I understand that they intend to get these machines into people's hands for free.
I dislike that they are making the machines proprietary... hopefully someone will find a way to hack/jailbreak them to allow any OS to run on them.
They, currently, aren't being designed to do much more than surf the web... which makes me wonder what the point is. just use a smartphone or tablet instead of a hamstrung laptop.

I dislike the cloud nature of it, just as I dislike the idea of Windows 8 going to the cloud. My feeling is that it is an OS, it should be local and not subject to internet delays.

I have to say, I've been having a ball installing a bunch of Chrome Apps to my Chrome Browser. I'm going to test if this makes most of the functions of current computing obsolete.

I've read it will be $300-$400... Its not intended to replace someones gaming rig. It's intended for the casual user who spends 90% of the time on the internet. It's open source so anybody that wants to dive in and report bugs etc, can.

While the OS is "free" the hardware it can run on isn't. I'm sure the actual cost of the OS will be somewhat factored into the hardware you buy.

The move is very confusing to me... I can't see how google really benefits that much from something like this. Except the costs of maintaining peoples data and processing on the backend.

Advertising...While your using the Google OS and checking your docs, email etc, there will be ads all along with it, much like they do now on their search engine.

Google is good at making them non-obtrusive so it is a good compromise for the end user who doesn't want to be bombarded with pop-up windows constantly just so they can enjoy the benefits of a product.

Googles owners are big in the open source community and have a goal of improving the internet and the internet experience. They are, or at least were at one time, working on improving speeds for internet traffic.

Nope, don't care about it. I'm not jumping on the "Everything must be in the cloud" bandwagon. Yeah, there are scenarios where putting something in the cloud makes sense, but it doesn't make sense for everything, especially an OS.

I could see this effectively taking over the netbook market for people who want that secondary computing device that's not a tablet. This type of lightweight operating system is better scaled to a netbook device.

Me, I have a convertible laptop that I lug around with me, so I'm not buying anything else.

The only thing I don't like about the Chrome browser is there is nothing to block google ads. So I stick with Firefox.

Here are a couple reviews from beta testers.

Computer World

Maximum PC


After reading these, I am wondering where this will fit in. The OS is nothing but the Chrome web browser with a few more settings. Some say this is what the netbook should have been from the beginning. So, you have a laptop with the hardware similar to that of a netbook with software that has less functionality than the ipad. Where does this fit in in the current market? Like PPE, if I want something that basic I'll go with a smartphone or tablet thats much more portable. As much as I hate apple, I'd get an ipad before getting this.

For those interested, there is a link in the computer world article where you can sign up for beta for this laptop.

I ran the beta on my hp mini 311today. It booted up off the flash drive in about 30 seconds which was nice. IMO if I wanted a streamlind interface I'd rather look at an android tablet though.