So it can only be used when you have the web? Colour me uninterested.

sunbird: So it can only be used when you have the web? Colour me uninterested.

You didn't read all the comments talking about how great "Google Gears" is?

Oh, FFS. Scheduled announcements don't get newsflashes, people. Especially if they're not launching the damned thing for another year.

sunbird: So it can only be used when you have the web? Colour me uninterested.

Network down? Well, you can't fix it with this POS. Get a real computer.

utsagrad123: sunbird: So it can only be used when you have the web? Colour me uninterested.

You didn't read all the comments talking about how great "Google Gears" is?

Is that a stripped down version of Gears of War?

deadapostle: Oh, FFS. Scheduled announcements don't get newsflashes, people. Especially if they're not launching the damned thing for another year.

Product launches shouldn't get newsflashes, period. Apple could release its much-anticipated tablet tomorrow for $200 and free 3G and I would personally cockpunch every submitter that used a newsflash tag.

Hender: Apple could release its much-anticipated tablet tomorrow for $200 and free 3G and I would personally cockpunch every submitter that used a newsflash tag.

Really? You're actually going to take the time out of your life to figure out who the submitters are, and then travel to them and punch them in the penis? What are you going to do if one of them is a woman?

deadapostle: Hender: Apple could release its much-anticipated tablet tomorrow for $200 and free 3G and I would personally cockpunch every submitter that used a newsflash tag.

Really? You're actually going to take the time out of your life to figure out who the submitters are, and then travel to them and punch them in the penis? What are you going to do if one of them is a woman?

If he's going to that much trouble, probably make them go through a sex change op, then cock-punch them.

sunbird: deadapostle: Hender: Apple could release its much-anticipated tablet tomorrow for $200 and free 3G and I would personally cockpunch every submitter that used a newsflash tag.

Really? You're actually going to take the time out of your life to figure out who the submitters are, and then travel to them and punch them in the penis? What are you going to do if one of them is a woman?

If he's going to that much trouble, probably make them go through a sex change op, then cock-punch them.

Damn straight, skippy. I'm serious about my cockpunches.

deadapostle: Really? You're actually going to take the time out of your life to figure out who the submitters are, and then travel to them and punch them in the penis? What are you going to do if one of them is a woman?

He would then cock-punch her. WITH HIS COCK. AM I RIGHT? HELLO? IS THIS ON?

Nerdgasm. The word is "nerdgasm", subby.

did i read this right that the only way to get it will be by purchasing a pre-approved pre-loaded computer? where is your open-source god now?

deadapostle: Hender: Apple could release its much-anticipated tablet tomorrow for $200 and free 3G and I would personally cockpunch every submitter that used a newsflash tag.

Really? You're actually going to take the time out of your life to figure out who the submitters are, and then travel to them and punch them in the penis? What are you going to do if one of them is a woman?

Getting kicked in the spampurse is no picnic, either.

/kick her in the box and shove her

Well, that looks perfectly useless.

That seems nifty and everything, but can it compete in an already-saturated market? If it only supports net applications, is that going to make it more accessible to open development, or are they going to put the clamps on like Apple and make it so you can only run apps certified by Google?

El Freak: Well, that looks perfectly useless.

Says the guys who is using the web right now, exclusively.

GreenAdder: That seems nifty and everything, but can it compete in an already-saturated market? If it only supports net applications, is that going to make it more accessible to open development, or are they going to put the clamps on like Apple and make it so you can only run apps certified by Google?

They already released the source code. As far as competing in a saturated market, that is Google's business model!

Web search was a saturated when they entered the market.
Online ads was saturated when they entered the market.
Smart phones was saturated when they entered the market.

They have taken being the loss leader to an artform, they pay people to use Android!

haemaker: They have taken being the loss leader to an artform, they pay people to use Android!

They pay people to use Android OS? I want to get one of them there Droid phones. Where can I get some of this Google money?

TFA: It won't support hard drives, just solid state storage. I mean, hard drives are dying, sure, but this is pretty bold.

This is bold, and as big a departure from the norm as Apple only having USB on the original iMac.

TFA: You'll have to buy a Chrome OS device: You might be able to hack this thing onto your current machine, but you won't just be able to install it to replace Windows, or opt for it on your next laptop, for example. You'll have to buy hardware that Google approved, either component by component, or in a whole package. They're already working on reference designs.

This is the best of both worlds: Multiple hardware vendors (like Windows) but control over the hardware (like the Mac).

This will probably be enough computing power for 80% of home users.

GreenAdder: haemaker: They have taken being the loss leader to an artform, they pay people to use Android!

They pay people to use Android OS? I want to get one of them there Droid phones. Where can I get some of this Google money?

Hardware developers, not end users. If you use android, you get a cut of the adwords profit.

haemaker: Hardware developers, not end users. If you use android, you get a cut of the adwords profit.

I don't care. I still want Google money. I'd even consider using an iPhone or a Blackberry (or some other brand) if the company wanted to pay me for it.

Good, more competition. Maybe more companies will release non-binary blob drivers for Linux (although I doubt it) and put pressure on Apple to keep releasing good open source software.

This sounds like it's an OS that will strictly be marketed for phone makers and the like, not a serious computing platform.

Do we have a Google version of the doomsday clock? We need some kind of countdown until Google takes over the world.

Over under: 2025

It's their browser running on stripped-down Linux with an attempt to provide better security than an ordinary browser running on ordinary Linux.

I'll save my cheers for a real new OS or hardware platform, that's as different from Linux+browser-of-the-day as a Lisp Machine was from a PDP-11.

Pointless.

Next!

It sounds like they have no real plans to take on Windows 7 or any other operating system for peoples main systems. You're desktop at work or home will stay the same. You're laptop you use for work and projects will stay the same OS.


What this looks to be doing is competing with lightweight laptops and netbooks. The things people get that they only use for limited things on the go like using the internet and various other small projects.


It also says the apps can still be used offline even more so then the current versions are able too.


Sounds neat, you wouldn't replace your main system's OS but it could be nice for the others.

Wow, this just sounds like pure crap. Why would anyone want this? It only runs web apps. That just kind of sucks when your internet connection goes down. You can only install in on their licensed computers. Might as well just by an Apple. It is only for netbooks. It does not support HDDs, only flash drives.

Why???

Hmmm, a tiling window manager backed by the resources and development capabilities of google?

I'm listening.

Any chance this'll be open source?

For those saying "it isn't a serious OS" or "why," consider this:

IT'S FOR SECONDARY COMPUTERS.

They aren't even beginning to pretend that it's a "real" OS like Windows, OSX, or various Linux distros. Hell, it isn't even Microsoft Bob. It is intended only for those tiny PCs that you don't use as a primary computer anyway. It's for computers like my Eee, which basically sits there unused unless we go on vacation or I want to check email without dragging out and firing up my primary computer. Yeah, it's useless without an internet connection, but the computers it's intended for aren't exactly paragons of utility themselves.

akula: For those saying "it isn't a serious OS" or "why," consider this:

IT'S FOR SECONDARY COMPUTERS.

They aren't even beginning to pretend that it's a "real" OS like Windows, OSX, or various Linux distros. Hell, it isn't even Microsoft Bob. It is intended only for those tiny PCs that you don't use as a primary computer anyway. It's for computers like my Eee, which basically sits there unused unless we go on vacation or I want to check email without dragging out and firing up my primary computer. Yeah, it's useless without an internet connection, but the computers it's intended for aren't exactly paragons of utility themselves.

Besides if Google DID want to break in on the full-blown OS market, this would be the best way.

Alright, I get it. It is a net appliance, like the ones that failed in the '90's.

At first I was all, "oh great, Google takes another step to world domination."

On more thought, though, this might not be a bad idea. A major company putting out an OS that requires solid state drives to work. Putting these two together, you're looking at (quite literally) a second-life for otherwise dead or obsolete machines.

"Why solid state?" Good question. Old HDDs are generally unreliable to use at best, a waste of time at worst. If Google does it smart and makes these USB 1.0 compatible (or even weirder, puts out IDE solid state systems) then these things can plug into virtually any machine out there. Because they're smaller, they'll use less power too, possibly extending the life of the power supply/rest of the machine in the process.

Yeah, yeah I know, Damn Small Linux/Ubuntu etc, but this might be helpful to libraries with old, out of warranty/non-supported machines with low flops/RAM etc. And being made by Google, mostly idiot proof so IT guys won't be wasting their time on stupid crap (how do I permanently delete a file?) Perhaps, maybe, POSSIBLY, this is a good thing?

Or perhaps I'm full of shiat. There is that.

Useless.

Next!

Bunnyhat: What this looks to be doing is competing with lightweight laptops and netbooks. The things people get that they only use for limited things on the go like using the internet and various other small projects.

Agreed.

It seems it'd be a nifty little appliance for hanging out on the web, but not for a main computer. If you have to be connected to the web to use it, it loses some appeal as a main computer.

Though, I suppose if it has a phone modem allowing people to use their cellphone plans for 3G connections when there's no regular wifi, it would be a nifty gadget, in between the iPhone/droid (cool, but definitely tiny) and a regular laptop.

Like any of you will be able to afford computers anymore after O gets through.

RockIsDead: Like any of you will be able to afford computers anymore after O gets through.

Weak dude. Weak. It's like you don't care enough to put any effort into your trolling anymore.

Yawn.

RockIsDead: Like any of you will be able to afford computers anymore after O gets through.

A wayward soul from the politics tab! Please rest, I can tell you are weary from much trolling.

Games.

/go

RockIsDead: Like any of you will be able to afford computers anymore after O gets through.

Oprah? So she is planning on a 2012 presidential run!

Um...

This sounds awfully familiar to those failed internet Tv gizmo's that were around a while back. You know, the box you could get for a couple hundred dollars that hooked up to your TV, and you got to surf the web and download and store virtually nothing...

I don't like the whole, store everything online deal. Bandwith hog every time I want to look at my porn collection? Let's face it, that's what portable computers are really for. Porn in the hotel, parking garage, across the street from grade school, Catholic confessional booths etc.

I was hoping that whole cloud computing deal had died out for good. They're going out of their way to reverse engineer the system back to what Bill Gates himself predicted computers would be. Minimal packages where it's all done and stored online.

Boo!

Can we save this thread?

I want to look back in 3 years, when all the Netbooks are running Chrome OS (and selling well), and laugh at all the people saying 'useless'.

My money is on Google ... they really are smarter than you.

RockIsDead: Like any of you will be able to afford computers anymore after O gets through.

You're diluting your brand. The more you stray from your core competency, the Politics tab, the more faded and transparent your efforts become. Pretty soon we won't even bother to acknowledge your presence, positively or negatively.

So, why don't you post something on topic, or just go away?

I think Google is betting on the WiMax standard becoming well... the standard.

What they've made is a cloud computing front page that doesn't need much of any local hardware and is only good for browsing or using apps from the cloud. It would be like trying to do serious work on an Xbox or a mac, only with the added "feature" of being useless when not linked into the internet.

Its not much of a boon for anyone making hardware besides cell internet enabled netbooks or tablets. I doubt it will be much good for gaming either. Then I wonder about loading movies and music by way of internet just to play them.

Its the kind of thing you'd have on a terminal only used for browsing via google. Which is a somewhat limiting thing.

Farking Canuck: "My money is on Google ... they really are smarter than you."

Seconding this. Most didn't bother to RTFA. It will have offline storage that mirrors everything you store online, providing you turn that feature on. It's all of the perks of cloud computing with none of the downsides. Google's doing cloud computing right.

Farking Canuck: I want to look back in 3 years, when all the Netbooks are running Chrome OS (and selling well), and laugh at all the people saying 'useless'.

My money is on Google ... they really are smarter than you.

Same here.

Think about what most people use their computers for. Email, the web, and maybe some word processing. If they could buy a little notebook or desktop computer that only did those things and, because of its simple nature and limited hardware, had very few security problems, why wouldn't they?

Heck, I'm a Mac fanboy and I'd snap up a netbook with those features. Not for myself, mind you, but for my wife. No more sharing a computer with someone who completely runs down the battery checking her Facebook? Sign me up.