Google’s Chrome Operating System

Here are some important things you need to know about the Google Chrome OS:

1. It’s not Available Yet Today Google launched only the open source development project. This means developers and third-party partners (including hardware manufacturers) can download, compile, and install the code. Most importantly, they can change and enhance it. All those changes could pour back into what will become the first shipping product late next year. The rest of us will have to wait until then.
2. Every Application in Google Chrome OS is a Web Application This means there are literally no desktop apps. Google execs reiterated this point by adding, “third party apps will work as long as they’re Web applications.” This fact could—and maybe should—scare you. All the application CDs you currently have sitting on shelves are useless with the Chrome OS. If you have a favorite drawing or scrapbooking application, you might as well throw it out if you plan on devoting your life to the Chrome OS.On the other hand, it’s likely that you’ve started using more and more cloud-based applications to get work done. One thing that’s not clear here is whether or not Google’s own Picasa photo management app will work. You download and install the client on your desktop and are not usually doing all of your work in the clouds. Your photos are stored locally, too. In the Google Chrome OS world, you store them with Google or another service like Yahoo’s Flickr.
3. Google Chrome Browser is Part of the OS Foundation If you like Google’s upstart browser, you may love the Chrome OS. They look almost exactly the same, though Chrome OS does add a number of important, operating system-like features.
4. Google Chrome OS will Offer Easy Access to Apps A Web browser lets you add shortcuts to Websites on the toolbar, but it isn’t particularly good at giving instant access to applications. Google Chrome OS tries to address this by adding a “Tabs” feature. These are persistent tabs that keep your favorite Apps a click away.
5. Panels Are Persistent Browsers aren’t persistent, but Google Chrome OS is not a browser. It’s an operating system and, as such, can handle multiple tasks at once. One way Google Chrome OS will do this is with Panels. These will allow you to play music in the background, play video, and interact with external storage media.
6. Google Chrome OS Will Always be Up-to Date Microsoft always recommends you turn on Windows Update, but not everyone does it. In the Google Chrome OS, there is no choice. If you’re currently running the Google Chrome Browser, this shouldn’t surprise you. It always polls for new versions and updates on its own, as well.
7. Google Chrome OS will Repair Itself Google said its primary goals for the Chrome OS are speed, simplicity, and security. To achieve that last part, the Chrome OS will do something never seen before in a desktop operating system: it will, if it needs to, re-image itself. If the OS detects a malware infection or even just a bad bit, it will get an updated version of the OS from the cloud and reinstall it. Thankfully, this will not blow away your data and settings, because they’re all stored in the cloud.
8. Your Data is in the Cloud Google Chrome OS will not store any of your data locally. As long as you’re online, it will constantly cache your data and settings in the cloud. All of that information is, by default, encrypted. There is a benefit here. If your computer is stolen, or even if you want to upgrade, you don’t have to backup or migrate a thing. You’ll have it all as soon as you sync up your new computer. The concern, obviously, is what happens when you don’t have online access–cross-country flight, anyone? [See item 11]
9. There is No Hard Drive Google Chrome OS will not run on spinning hard drives. Google execs said they’re working with OEMS to create the ultimate reference design for Google Chrome OS machines. Part of that is flash or solid state media. A key benefit—speed. During Google’s demonstration of early code, the company showed a machine booting to login in seven seconds and launching an app in an additional three seconds.
10. Google Chrome will not Run on Just any PC Sorry, but if you were planning on converting all your existing systems to the Google Chrome OS, you’re out of luck. As noted in point nine, Google is targeting a very specific kind of computer. In fact, even though Google expressed great love for all the world’s netbooks—those that have helped drive people toward a more light-weight operating system—they have concerns about the current crop of small, affordable laptops. Google execs said they want to see netbooks with 100 percent keyboards and larger screens. They said they also want to focus on 802.11n connectivity. Google does believe that its operating system will eventually run on more powerful desktops and laptops, but not in 2010.
11. Google Chrome OS Will Work Offline—Sort of Google is serious when it says it intends the operating system to be used in a connected environment. Still, at today’s event, they did make some vague promises about “exposing offline capabilities” and supporting some offline storage. They also talked about the ability to play offline media and games.

There’s more, like the fact that whatever you see now probably doesn’t represent what the shipping product will look like in 2010, and the fact that Google doesn’t seem to have a hardware driver plan (though they did promise that Google Chrome OS will print). But these are the early days. I expect we’ll learn a dozen or more key points when we finally download and compile the code in PC Labs. We gotta say, we’re looking forward to it.