Will Dewry, Google software security engineer, recently revealed that Chrome OS will be released in two flavors, one intended for home use and the other for business use. The business version will not be released until next year.
This comes as a surprise to many considering Chrome OS is already built like a tank but runs as fast as a Formula One race car. It is unclear what features will be added to the business version but Dewry stated that it would offer more “management muscle.” To me, that sounds like remote access by the IT staff and restricting peons from changing settings.
I would also expect better integration with Google Apps in the business version. Additionally, the home version requires users to login with a gmail account; perhaps the business version will support custom domains.
[via Engadget]
Click to visit www.glideos.com
Transmedia Corporation’s “Glide OS 4.0″ is an advertising-free, cloud-based operating system. You can access it through any web browser (including mobile browsers) and through a proprietary desktop app (Windows/Linux and OS X flavors). It has all the bells and whistles of Google’s free cloud services (calendar, email, documents, spreadsheets, etc.) and some other services not offered by Google:
- 30 GB of free online storage in the “GDrive” and a desktop app to automatically sync directories on your computer and in the cloud.
- The best web-based image editor I have seen. While it’s not exactly PhotoShop or GIMP quality, it will do the trick for basic use.
- An online version of PowerPoint called “Presenter.”
- It’s very customizable, e.g. you can set wallpaper and other custom options.
Frankly, I’m not doing justice to the scope of offerings available in Glide OS 4.0. It’s truly a complete operating system that is remotely hosted. Glide OS 4.0 has been favorably reviewed by InformationWeek, PC World, CNET, eWeek and PC Magazine. Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and David Pogue of the New York Times both wrote rave reviews about it.
A cloud-based solution like Glide might be particularly appealing to those running Chrome OS on their netbooks (including the Flow variety I wrote about). Currently, there is nothing comparable though Office 2010 is supposed to have a cloud based version. As noted in many of the reviews of Glide, Microsoft is playing catch up with Transmedia’s free offerings. Glide OS 4.0 is completely free for up to 30 GB of storage. This would be more than sufficient for most and I intend to use it for my online backups. A 250 GB account runs $50 per year.
Check it out at http://glideos.com/.
[Thanks Brian]
Last night Wired.Com posted up a good article that lays out a strategy Google could follow to dethrone iTunes as the leader in music distribution. Many of the suggestions involve leveraging the cloud and allowing users to stream their music purchases to their devices.
I’m blogging from within Google Chrome OS Flow by Hexxeh. As you may know from my previous posts (e.g., this one), Chrome OS is simply a bootup and login to the Google Chrome browser. The simplicity of the Chrome OS offers performance advantages on netbooks. I’m evaluating the very popular and recently released Flow build of the Google Chrome OS which is offered up by Hexxeh (link at end of post). Continue reading »
Mock Up of Chrome Tablet by Gizmodo Blog
The tech world is in a tablet frenzy right now, primarily fueled by the now credible rumor that Apple will unveil a tablet this month. An Australian publication, Smarthouse, has started a rumor that Google will soon unveil a Chrome OS tablet to compete with Apple’s upcoming tablet. Needless to say, there’s rumor based upon rumor here; however, it makes perfect sense considering Google’s assault on Apple.
The Google vs. Microsoft war received far more attention in 2009 (Google Web Search vs. Bing, Chrome Browser vs. Internet Explorer and Chrome OS vs. Windows) but Google is also waging a significant war with Apple. This will be the story of 2010. It is no wonder why Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, left Apple’s board of directors in early 2009. Below are five attacks Google has recently made on Apple:
Unless you were born yesterday (which would really suck because of its proximity to Christmas), you already know that Google is fundamentally an advertising company. In 2008, Google generated over $21 billion dollars in revenue and over 95% of that revenue was generated by Google’s Adwords program. Year end numbers for 2009 will probably be at least as impressive. Google’s success, however, depends on it not remaining simply an advertising company.
I read that the beta version of Chrome OS that I tested will be altered to allow users to login from the browser instead of the blue screen that follows the boot up. This will enable logins and logouts without rebooting the computer. Whoopdie do, right? This is a far more significant development than it may seem. It suggests to me that the so-called “personal computer” will become the “public computer” and also supports the notion that Google will install free computers in heavily trafficked areas… investing heavily in this endeavor and significantly profiting from it.
I installed a VirtualBox image of Chrome OS that is floating around online. It’s available from gdgt and other less trustworthy sources. To sum it up… waste of time. The test drive was entirely unfilling but it did significantly pique my interest in antitrust concerns.
Sebastian Rupley at GigaOM posted about Mozilla’s dependence on Google and the threat Google’s Chrome browser and operating system pose to Mozilla. Firefox is a record-smashing open source success, but the future of Mozilla may be in doubt. More than 90% of its revenue is generated from search-related deals, including the search box in Firefox that directs users to Google’s web search. Apparently, Mozilla’s deal with Google is set to expire in November 2011.
Upon pondering the possibility of a Google Chrome OS World, I believe the weakest link to the widespread adoption of Chrome OS is Google Docs, the web-based word processor. I hadn’t used it until recently and I was actually quite impressed. Nonetheless, it is a poor replacement for Microsoft Word for people who do heavy-duty word processing. Will this slow the adoption of Chrome OS (which will not support the installation of software)?
This is a follow up to my post about Google Chrome OS yesterday entitled, “Google Chrome OS World — Winners & Losers in the Paradigm Shift.”
I have been avidly reading about the details of Google’s Chrome operating system. Initially, I was disappointed. In its early stages it appears that the Chrome OS will be simply a boot up to the Google Chrome browser (youtube video). After reading some commentary, including Ben Parr’s post on Mashable entitled “With Chrome OS, Google Intends to Destroy the Desktop and Microsoft,” I reconsidered my initial opinion. Google’s web-centric philosophy and the Chrome OS has the potential to be shift the computing paradigm. If you want to read the basics of the Chrome OS, there are over 1,045 news articles published in the last 24 hours. I intend to head in a different direction than most of the mainstream articles. After a brief introduction to Google’s Chrome OS, I will discuss the winners and losers if Chrome OS achieves widespread acceptance. Other musings appear in this post.
