

Google Drops A Nuclear Bomb On Microsoft. And It’s Made of Chrome. - vaksel
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/07/google-drops-a-nuclear-bomb-on-microsoft-and-its-made-of-chrome/

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moe
_Google says the software architecture will basically be the current Chrome
browser running inside “a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel.” So
in other words, it basically is the web as an OS._

Or, in a bit less sensational words, they are not developing an OS but a
_window manager_ for an existing OS. They might also be dropping X11 as they
go, but the article doesn't give that away.

This might actually work for netbooks that are mostly used as a fullscreen
browser. But I don't see this making any significant inroads on bigger laptops
or desktops in the foreseeable future. The technology behind "the web" just
isn't up to the task. Wrong tool for the job.

The problems begin on such a basic level that I find it ridiculous someone
with the engineering muscle of google is even considering this.

How basic? Well, we don't even have a _Socket_ on this soon-to-be-an-OS
platform. That basic. Admittedly it should be relatively simple to add and
_hopefully_ the one outcome of this project will be that Websocket finally
gains traction (across all browsers).

But it doesn't stop there. The HTML/JS combo is lacking severely in many areas
relevant to RIAs. People still have to reinvent basic widgets like comboboxes,
datepickers, auto-completion, richtext input, sliders etc. in javascript. CSS
is still a nightmare even for simple layouts. Will google fix these problems
and break compatibility to other browsers? Don't think so.

So here's what I think they'll deliver: A mangled linux distro with chrome
running fullscreen, likely even on top of X11. It'll have a fancy start-page
that wants to log you into the google universe first. There will be some
flashy widgets and a fancy javascript framework for the windowing - but
overall it will just be a fullscreen browser with all its problems.

I hope they surprise me and do better. Because if _this_ is their plan then I
think it's time to sell some of those GOOG shares. Google never needed to hype
their products upfront thus far. In that light this is a worrying
announcement.

~~~
TallGuyShort
I'd have to agree with your predictions.

Some are claiming that rather than hurt Windows, this is going to take the
market share Linux "might have had". But I really don't think that Linux users
are going to want a system that gives up more of their privacy to Google, and
restricts the power of your own computer to what you can do with Google.

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ntoshev
A spectacular headline, but the article doesn't add anything to the story and
offers no new insights.

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andreyf
One thing I don't understand: why pre-announce so early?

~~~
10ren
One of the other stories claimed they said it was because (last Thursday) the
NYT and Ars Technica reported it. That's what Google _said_ , but of course
they didn't have to confirm the stories (and I think they haven't on previous
occasions unless it suited them).

So your question remains: why does it suit them now? (Guessing), perhaps part
of their evolution into a huge corp?

~~~
JunkDNA
Wild speculation: perhaps they are trying to get out in front of upcoming
announcements on actual products to show they are working in this space too?
The crunch pad is due out soon and Apple is also believed to have a product in
this space as well. If they put this out there now, any publicity for similar
products on blogs and news articles will also likely have a blurb that "Google
has also announced they will enter this competitive space..."

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qeorge
Honestly it looks more like a competitor to the Crunchpad then Windows. At
least the CrunchPad can run Skype.

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stcredzero
_What Google is doing is not recreating a new kind of OS, they’re creating the
best way to not need one at all._

The OS should seem like it isn't there at all. It should stay out of your way
as much as possible, but be there to do what you want as quickly as possible,
then get out of the way again. The OS should be like a storybook butler.
Discrete, unobtrusive, quietly useful.

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edw519
I hate to use the expression "killer app", but if there ever was one, it would
be a computer that "just turns on". This has been Microsoft's Achilles heel
forever. I've always said that if there was a laptop that turns on as quick as
a Palm pilot, it would steal the market. Now we'll see...

~~~
ori_b
The BIOS will have to go away for that to happen.

~~~
Xichekolas
Don't tease me.

The BIOS is one area that is long overdue for some modernization. If the folks
over at coreboot.org can do it from the outside, imagine what would happen if
mobo manufacturers opened up their specs to the community and embraced what
came out of it.

~~~
GeneralMaximus
What about EFI?

(No, that's a genuine question. I want to know if computers using EFI boot
faster than those still stuck with BIOS.)

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ddemchuk
A nuclear bomb? Come on, they didn't even release a direct competitor to
Microsoft's OS. Yes, I'm sure it will be streamlined and efficient and very
well designed for web apps and things programmed for it, but it still doesn't
replace a Windows desktop machine because of its inherently different
architecture.

~~~
justindz
One word: games. Consoles have really stepped it up, but a lot of people still
use Windows at least partially because of hardware accelerated 3D gaming. I
don't see that being Google's netbook OS focus, or many people porting such
things to web apps, obviously. Unless they have some secret alliance with
OnLive ;-)

~~~
warfangle
The market for casual online flash (and now, with V8, pure JavaScript/Canvas)
games is much larger than the general 3D-accelerated PC game market.

~~~
rksprst
But which market pays for its games?

~~~
sketerpot
Does it matter, from Google's point of view? A customer is a customer, whether
or not they pay for games.

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newacc
just 2 days a go i predicted that google will come out with its own OS -
though android - but never expected that in just couple of days my gut feeling
will come true ...

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=688732>

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onreact-com
What an awful headline! As if a nuclear bomb is something great to use it as a
metaphor. Google Hiroshima?

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michaelawill
Will I be able to run Internet Explorer on Chrome OS?

Edit: People can't take a joke. lol

~~~
growt
since google chrome runs on microsoft windows, I think it would only be fair
if microsoft internet explorer would be allowed to run on google chrome os
(under the condition that ms would port it, which seems rather unlikely)

