Chrome OS: Will it succeed?

We talked earlier to Stephen Shankland about the basics of the upcoming OS, but now we want to know the inevitable question: Will it succeed? We talk to Brad Linder, who covers netbooks at Liliputing, and Brian Tong of CNET.

Brad doesn't exactly consider this a slam dunk. He cites the problems inherent in the early days of netbooks, when none of the machines ran Windows. People often wanted what they were used to, and with an unfamiliar operating system, many people were less than excited about the prospect of running Linux.

Brian isn't sold either. Chrome OS expects users to use exclusively web based applications, but what about when an internet connection goes south? After the show Brian noted that Google Gears exists for these scenarios, but that isn't bullet proof either. He much prefers the stability and reliability of a traditional notebook OS feel rather than the promise of a web specific OS.

What's your take? Are you excited about Chrome OS and the future promise that it holds? Sound off in the comments and make your voice be heard. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Chrome
• OS
• company
• Google
• linux
• operating
• systems
• web
• browsing
• guest
• Brian
• Tong
• Brad
• Linder

[feralkuriboh]

i dunno, many program's wont probably be compatible in the begining.

[Neptune443]

I think that a few assumptions here are wrong. There's nothing saying that Chrome OS won't have any local apps and that it will need constant internet access.

Google Blogg:

"most of the user experience takes place on the web"

So I take it that some local apps will still exist but google will push for HTML5 and Google Gears based apps for local storage. I will also guess that Google will access local OS resources through an embedded web server and use the browser to access local resources.

[ConorJohnMcGuire]

I love Brian Tong! -3 but not in a gay/weird way! :P

[jdubeau007]

you guys missed this one.

[sm1tty5569]

Chrome OS could be good for teens.

I have a bunch of friends that just use their computer for IMing and social media (like facebook) and they do some light word processing for school (which could easily be done on Google Docs).

If they could pick up a computer for 300-400 bucks that does everything they want then why wouldn't?

If Chrome OS is Marketed correctly it could be quite successful.

We'll have to wait and see.

[vargulf19]

@monkmonk666 yeah but with things like google docs you don't need anything but internet

[SirKil0t]

Nerdz below me :P

[monkmonk666]

chrome os is perfect for netbooks all netbooks should run with it but i just don't see how someone could use a net book because really all you can do on there is go on the internet you cant do anything els without wasting all your memory.

[cloclita]

Linux is getting more and more popular. Take Mac OS X for example (yes, it's a BSD), you don't need to know c++, to get around. It just works, very stable and a nice GUI makes it more appealing to the masses

[sebbeks]

as far as i know they are not using the X server. i think they don't want to rush the os because google wants to be innovative and i think they have to finish negotiating with other software companies.

[jeroeniskoning]

Linux is going to really take off when google is in the Linux boat.

Go Linux (Google)

[schmidtbag]

hmm interesting, i guess that perfectly answers my question. although i wouldn't go through the effort of recreating X, i can see why they'd make their own graphical interface. it looks like they've got a lot of work to do if they plant to make their own drivers as well. do you know if they are going to release drivers and the applications to all other linux users? i think that'd be great