Savouring Google Chrome OS

The Chrome OS from Google is one of the most anticipated of software applications that is set to come out this year. Thanks to this great article on Lifehacker, I have finally managed to savour a preliminary version of the Chrome OS.


With an install of VirtualBox, another cool tool which will be covered here soon and a customized packaging of Chrome OS, I had Chrome OS running on a Pentium 4.

In a nutshell, VirtualBox is a free utility from Sun, application that can run one operating system(the guest OS) within another operating system (the host) as if it was an application of the latter operating system.

In my configuration, I had Chrme OS running inside Ubuntu Jaunty. The disadvantage of this type of installation is that the guest OS runs much more slowly. Because of this setback, I could not experience one of the best features of Chrome OS, its speed.

However, I did get to test out Chrome and many of its features.Here are my thoughts:

If you, like me are used to a desktop, with a cool background image that houses many icons inside it, you may initially get disappointed.

As soon as you login into Chrome, you are presented with a familiar utility, a maximised Chrome Browser. You must make a paradigm shift in getting used to the idea that the browser is your desktop and all the applications you'll need are accessible through the browser. These applications include Google docs, Gmail and other Google utilities.

There are also image links to other tools like Facebook and Twitter. In previous posts, we have looked at several cloud operating systems(See Links below.) These are operating systems that reside in remote(possibly distributed) locations and accessible through a browser.

At first glance, Chrome may resemble them. However, unlike the other cloud operating systems we have seen before, Chrome OS uses HTML5, the newest version of the language of the web. While the other cloud operating systems make little use of resources on the local machine, Chrome uses HTML 5 to make use of resources like the memory and processor on the local computer.

Chrome OS is expected to hit netbooks later this year. HTC is working with Google to release a Chrome Tablet.

Below is a promotional video from Google on the philosophy behind Chrome OS>

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Cloud & virtual desktops: iCloud

iCloud
 iCloud is another great looking virtual/cloud desktop that has a great look and feel. However, it seems to run only on IE8.It did not work on Firefox 3.5.6 for me. iCloud offers  a MSN chat client, a twitter client, a to-do list  and a built-in browser. The free version provides 3G of free space and a paid premium version provides 100GB of space.

Other features included in iCloud are a document editor, a photo manager and as with all the other virtual desktops reviewed in this blog, the ability to upload files.

Conclusion
In the last couple of  weeks, we have looked at several virtual/cloud desktops. All of them offer great eye candy and a useful set of tools. In my brief analysis, there is no clean winner among them. The whole concept of having a computer in the 'clouds' accessible from any computer via a browser is  indeed 'cool'.

Having said that, will they prevail in the future? The truth is that cloud computing is not new. Anyone who uses Yahoo mail or gmail uses the cloud.  Google docs offers many of the online tools provided by these so called virtual computer. These include spreadsheet and document editing software.

With Google now offering disk space, virtual computers have lost out on yet another offering.  Unfortunately, none of these cloud or virtual computers builds a strong case with a unique offering that can attract users. It remains to be seen how many of these cloud desktops will survive in the next few years. It is only a question of time before Google begins to offer online media management.

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Cloud & virtual desktops: Ghost

G.ho.st
G.ho.st or Global hosted Operating system is another cloud desktop that offers a virtual machine inside a browser. Signing up for an account would let A you use the computer and its tools and a whopping 15GB of free space.G.ho.st provides a decent set of utilities.



G.host has an interesting business model. According to the website, G.ho.st gets a commission when one clicks on an ad in google from within a G.ho.st browser.(Got it?)

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Savoring Flavors of Linux: gOS

gOS
Here is another OS that can revive that old P3, collecting dust in your basement or closet. gOS, or Good OS is one of the most creative of ideas when it comes to delivering a desktop. If you want a powerful system with all the latest, greatest Linux tools, gOS may not be the system for you.

On the other hand, if you want a basic system and prefer to do all your work online or are a big fan of Google and the tools Google offers, this may be the system for you.Do not confuse gOS with the Google Chrome OS which Google plans to deliver next year.

Though years behind in simplicity, the philosophy of gOS is,(believe it no not,) similar to that of that of the forthcoming Chrome OS. Keep the machine uncluttered by doing all your work in the 'Cloud'. This means do your work online with online tools.
gOS comes with Firefox, Skype,icons linked to Google docs, Blogger, youtube, gmail,Google calendar, Google Finance, Google maps.,etc. Clicking on an icon brings up the respective application in the Firefox browser.
gOS is simple and functional.

The desktop may be best described as a mashup of Goofle widgets and a basic linux system. Walmart, a few years ago offered a $300 PC which ran gOS.

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Cloud & virtual desktops: EyeOs

EyeOs
This is another good virtual computer. It's look at feel is undoubtedly modelled after Linux.
In addition to the usual utilities, EyeOS provides a public board, an FTP client, and even a process manager.
The website promotes the use of EyeOs in schools, Government,etc. They offer different licensing options, support and training. A downloadable version of EyeOs can be used to run the system on your own server. EyeOS also provides the ability for branding and personalization of its look and feel.

See also:
Set Up a Web-Based Desktop with EyeOS

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Cloud & virtual desktops: Glide OS 3.0

The traditional desktop like a Windows PC, Mac an Linux come with browsers in them. With the coming of cloud cto upload from and download to the virtual computer. omputing, we now have desktops accessible within browsers and just days ago, Google released another model, the desktop IS the browser. For now, I'd like to look at some of the free desktops accessible within browsers.


Glide OS 3.0

This one requires a Flash 9.0 plugin and offers 5 GB on web storage. In addition to media tools, Glide offers a blogging utility, photo editing, a meeting scheduler, an email, and even web space.

Glide provides GlideHD, a media manager .One may upload or download audio, video or imae files to and from the virtual machine. There are utilities to sync files from the virtual computer to the local machine.

Further it offers a browser called Portal. Portal allows the ability to add bookmarks to quickly access websites or RSS feeds from websites. Portal also comes with a stock ticker. Interestingly, the Portal lacks the ability to import or export bookmarks.

Glide also provides premium monthly and yearly plans that provide 50GB of storage.

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My Web 2.0 Surfings 10-23-2008

What is Cloud computing?

This question is posed to many 'experts'. Here are the responses:

- If it needs extra hardware or software, it is not cloud computing

-An interconnected network of computers which has unlimited memory, space and reliability.

- A type of computing where one can go to bed at night secure that the data saved will not be lost, that your operations person can go on vacation, that you can balance your home and work life.

-If there are a zillion connections between me and someone else, it does not bother me as it is all abstracted from me.

-The idea of cloud computing comes from the early days of representing the network as a cloud.

(reminiscent of the black box concept). Expanding on this, we could abstract messages and documents  disappearing and reappearing from the cloud.

-Google attempts to create a social cloud and asks who is in the cloud.

-It will be all permeating in the web.

-The cloud can be used to save data: The desktop, mobile devices are all leaning toward the cloud.

-Just as electricity is served up today, data will be served from within the cloud.

-Clouds help startups implement ideas at an early stage without having to scale up.

-It is like liquid paper and can cover up mistakes.

-Me on an airplane working in the clouds.

-It is the foundations of Web 2.0. The network of networks is the platform.

- Everything we think of as a computer is a connecting device.

-It is a great way to think about delivering services

-OSs today are built on the pre-cloud era. It is time for a new OS

-Scaling on demand.

-City in the sky.

-Apps on the desktop, hardware elsewhere

-For developers not no worry about things.

-Cloud A and B connecting via lightning.

The big question is that now that it is here, what are you going to do?

See the presentation here.

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