Quite recently Google released a netbook. Apparently they built it too! But what is more significant than the hardware (which quite frankly looks like a black-and-black movie) is that it runs the first release quality build of the Chrome OS.
The Chrome OS is a long running effort of Google to bring a new “Operating System” dedicated for netbooks. However it can be equally described as a really large framework for only webapps to run on a computer. Not that its a bad thing , but most people would not be convinced to buy a $500 netbook to find out that they cannot even store their entire movie collection in it!
The last point is more a critique of the Cr-48 netbook(that is its name!!). Clearly the Chrome netbook is for developers so it may not exactly be top-of-the-line with respect to the hardware specs. Anyway the significant hardware details are:
- 12.1-inch screen.
- Full size keyboard.
- Oversized clickpad.
- 3G chip
- 802.11n dual-band WiFi.
- 8+ hours of active use.
- 8+ days of standby.
- Webcam.
- 16GB Solid state drive
- Intel Pine Trail processor(do not know about the clock speed)
- 1GB of RAM
The hardware is pretty basic looking except for the keyboard. The keyboard is pretty awesome to look at(which is all I can do). The interesting thing about the keyboard is that is has got a Search Key(which brings up the new tab page) and a full screen key which switches the current tab(or application) to full screen.
Now that the hardware is dusted off let us look at the OS.
(Welcome to CHROME OS)
Usually with Google they usually release a good product, build on it in increments and make it a really great one (think Android,GMail,Search). But with Chrome OS they are trying to revolutionize people’s idea about what a netbook is. This OS is strictly a web-only OS in the sense that you cannot even login to your system unless you are connected to the internet. In the first boot of the device Chrome asks you for your preferred wi-fi network (unless of course you are hooked up via ethernet). Otherwise it will try to operate on the data plan from the 3G chip(clearly a no-no in India. No wonder you cant buy one from here). Then in about 3 seconds you would need to login to your Google account, or create one if you dont have an account (!). Then in another 10 seconds all your Google data would be pulled in and lo you are presented to your desktop.
Only problem is that there is no desktop. Its just a Chrome browser window that just wont minimize.You are presented with large icons which are basically shortcuts to web applications like GMail, Google Talk, Google Docs , Youtube and so on. There is no “My Computer” or “My Documents” and the “old” stuff like that. People who are used to installing games and applications on their PC would just have to live with the Chrome extensions as of now. Google promises that there will be a large collection of applications in the future.
The entire OS is linux-based but the only revealing detail is the GNOME file browser which pops up whenever you want to save a document from your mail. But the problem with the file manager is that when you use a pen drive or memory card you cannot backup its contents to the local storage (i.e the file manager does not show up). Instead you can only sync it online with some online storage sties.Similarly you can just play your songs from an external device, you cannot save them to the hard disk. (maybe to discourage that Cr-48 has only 16GB SSD).
Again other linux-specific features are completely hidden. Like the terminal,access to the root folder and so on. Clearly this netbook is for those users who are always on the move and are net-centered.
But the platform also has its upside. For example since all the work you do is cloud based, the documents you are working on(on Google docs) or the pictures you are editing (on PIKNIK) are always saved in the cloud. So incase you need to switch to another computer or if your netbook gets lost you really lose no data. Another cool feature is that you can ompletely replicate you Chrome OS experience on another machine. You need to enable a sync feature (from options->settings) on the Chrome OS. Once you are on another machine (which is running the Google Chrome Web Browser) all you need to do is sync back by signing into your account and lo all your bookmarks and applications are available.
Speaking of applications, all of the available apps are obviously web-apps. You need to install a specific app to suit your needs. For that you could do a Google Search (duh!) or use the Chrome Web Store.Clicking on the Web store shortcut takes you to a very Anroid Market like site from which you can install applications that are necessary.These apps can be placed in the bookmarks section, so that they will be automatically synced to your Google Account.So if you want to play a song or a movie you would have to use the in-built basic player or use one of the apps available.
(Chrome Web-Store from my laptop: https://chrome.google.com/webstore)
But the major problems with the platform is its overall performance. While it blazes away in most places the problems come when viewing flash heavy sites. The initial beta which I used couldnt play online flash videos and the recently released netbook flash seems really sluggish. Also there isnt a way to print out the documents you have created without using Google’s Air Print service(which is still in beta).
(Here is a youtube video about the basics of the OS)
This OS is like a kick to the traditional idea about OPERATING SYSTEMS.Overall the concept seems really innovative and we might have to wait and watch to see what happens.All the gripes about the OS are due to its heavy dependency on the cloud. But hey, if Google thinks its the way to go I guess they have a reason. Hopefully they will come up with more solutions than problems in the future.
(OH yeah please do remain calm)
arvindkrishnaa 