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GoogleOS Scenarios
ReadWriteWeb writes "Read/WriteWeb offers 3 scenarios for a GoogleOS and suggests it could be less than 6 months away. They say it may be a web based desktop (aka WebOS), a full featured Linux distribution, or a lightweight Linux distro and/or BIOS. They predict that once Microsoft's Vista rolls out, it will present a direct threat to Google's Web properties and so therefore Google will start a more punchy strategy — pushing Firefox and some form of Google OS in order to nullify Vista's potential impact."
"They say it may be a web based desktop (aka WebOS), a full featured Linux distribution, or a lightweight Linux distro and/or BIOS."
They have no idea.
It's not a proper fake news unless it speculates on BeOS, too.
What compels people that know nothing about technology to keep writing these "Google OS" articles? Do they even understand what an OS is?
MS bought into this "web OS" hype over 5 years ago. It was stupid then, and it's stupid now.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
"The GoogleOS, they do nothing!"
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
I think it will be a full featured BSD distro.
Or maybe the return of BeOS.
Or NeXT.
You might download the ISO and run it off a CD. You might not. Maybe BIOS will be involved. Possibly even TCP/IP. It will probably include some kind of menuing system and maybe a ribbonish banner that can be docked somewhere on the desktop or not, that might include items like Vista's Gadgets or OSX application launching capability or possibly some blend of both. Almost certainly the web will be involved.
Or none of the above, who knows.
"Sacrifice for the good of The State" - The State
Maybe after the 10 year beta test.
"I think that God in creating Man somewhat overestimated his ability."-Oscar Wilde
> How is something like this going to run on non-broadband?
Same as the answer to the question - how is this going to run on systems with 16MB ram, a 256 colour display and no cd-writer:
Who cares?
Linux/FreeBSD, Gnome/KDE, OOo, Firefox, Gaim, on Wii and PS3. At $50 a CD just the Wii with 4 million units to be released by the end of the year it would be a killing.
They wouldn't need to develop it just negotiate with Ubuntu. It's easier to maintain than Windows.
I've even sent Nintendo an email last year. To bad I don't have the finances to fund this.
DRM? No thanks, I'll just get it somewhere else...
It was submitted by the blogger himself, and the website is more than 40% advertisement. Here is the article text:
Written by Emre Sokullu and edited by Richard MacManus.
There's no such thing as the GoogleOS in reality - but despite that, it is one of the most talked about Web products. People can't stop discussing it - and even imagining screenshots for it! Seems like everyone expects Google to get into direct competition with Microsoft, by releasing an operating system. However Google refuses such claims and even makes fun of this kind of buzz. Nevertheless we decided to analyze where Google may be heading with their product strategy - and from that determine what are the chances of a GoogleOS.
Possibilities
We see 3 scenarios for a GoogleOS:
* A web based desktop (i.e. operating system)
* A full featured Linux distribution
* A lightweight Linux distro and/or BIOS
We'll try to explain each of these in detail - then in the conclusion, make our prediction. What's more, we think this could be less than 6 months away from happening.
A Web Based Operating System
If you asked "what will a GoogleOS look like?" - most people would answer that it'll be an AJAX-powered copy of the Windows desktop. In other words, a WebOS (aka webtop). To remind you of what a WebOS is, it is basically a virtual desktop on the web and has various built-in applications. Google already has a history of producing web-based products that mimic desktop apps - Gmail was the first desktop client like email reader, and now they have Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Calendar and other desktop-like products. Also note that Google's internal open sourced widget toolset, GWT, allows them to replicate any desktop capability.
On the other hand, a bunch of startups like YouOS , Goowy, DesktopTwo, Xin and open source eyeOS are already tackling this exact problem - and have been for a while now. So if Google engineers are not already working on their own webOS project, they may want to snap up one of these! AJAX powered YouOS, which is a yet another Paul Graham investment, seems like the most obvious choice at this time.
Screenshot from YouOS
Besides the startups we've already mentioned, there may be other surprises that Google looks at for WebOS purposes. Meebo, for instance, has created a very large user base with their web-based meta instant messaging product (it enables you to use multiple IM services on the same webpage). IM is a crucial application, because many people spend a lot of time on the computer IM'ing. So Meebo could use IM as a base - and utilize the empty spaces on their page for new applications.
Meebo OS with fictional Calculator application (taken from YouOS)
30 Boxes also has a webtop offering, but it looks less promising than their calendar. Start pages like NetVibes, PageFlakes and WebWag could also potentially enter the webos business.
A Full Featured Linux Distro
Another possibility for Google is to create their own Linux-based operating system. The free license of Linux allows anyone to create their own version of Linux. Although Linux is the most popular operating system in the server market and it's free, it is still far behind Windows and MacOS in the desktop market. Some believe this may change with the latest enhancements to the Linux user interface.
This scenario is a more traditional model to replace Windows - with a direct competitor, instead of creating a web-based replacement. Indeed this has already been widely speculated - Ubuntu, a semi-free Linux derivative, was rumored to be acquired by Google.
If this scenario happened, Google may open up their operating system as a free download and promote it on their homepage - as they once did with Firefox. They could also make a networked file system the default, instead of the complex UNIX file hierarchy of Linux - which is another reason why Linux struggles in the mainstream
I think the way that Google will go is to make thin client apps that will run on any old computer. They could use a simple file system to install on peoples old and insecure desktops to secure them, and have something to run Firefox or whatever client will access their products. And they will have all their other apps put together in a nice form or package. Whatever file system people install on their desktops will allow them to install third party software.
Really it's a hard sale for most people. Do you want all your info, or say just all your email, documents, video, and whatever else (depending on what products they create) on Google servers. Does Google want to compete with M$ in this arena? Of course the Google OS would be free as in beer with labels. I'm not sure.
I think the more likely scenario would be a Google OS for Servers. To be sure, they are using a custom file system, and they have that down pat. An end-user product is less likely. If it isn't perfect, they likely won't release it.
I'd like to see a Google OS, if only because I have enough of a Discordian streak to appreciate all of people's systems, work, and data based around an "I'm Feeling Lucky!" button.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
How about a virtual os that is optimised for web use that runs under vmware player. Google can manage all the configuration, updates, virus protection, malware protection (if needed) etc.
GoogleOS isn't vaporware as it hasn't been announced for a public release by Google.
There was some news about Google using a custom *nix based OS internally, and it has indeed been deployed.
That it's not even vaporware also says a bit why I think these articles are a bit useless.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
Let me get this straight ...
Google is expected to release an entire operating system that's supposed to compete heads on with Windows Vista, which is the result of years and years of work and billions of dollars invested? Say what you will about Windows, but it certainly is a massive behemoth with sh*tloads of functionality. You don't just shake something like that out of your sleeve in a few months.
And what's the supposed rationale behind a GoogleOS? Better integration of Windows Vista with Microsofts Live Search, or whatever they call it. Here's where the flip side of the coin comes in. Google has, for their part, invested years and years and billions of dollars in creating the best search engine out there, bar none. Is Microsoft suddenly going to undermine their user base by making their search engine integrated into Vista? I don't think so, Tim. People aren't total morons. They know how to type google.com into their search bars when they want to use a real search engine. It's no small cooincidence that the verb 'to google' has become prevalent among the English speaking, and has even been adopted and localized by many other nationalities.
There is absolutely no logical basis behind these speculations. Sheez.
I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
I'd go for a VNC(or similar) download. You heard it here first.
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Google Apps for My Domain is pretty close to being a "web-based desktop." combine this with the fact that they purchased Jot.
Because all of the heavy processing and data storage is done on the Google end of that desktop, there is nothing that is stopping them from releasing a $250, all-solid-state appliance which consists of linux/X/firefox. But that's not going to find any buyers until a large number of people are comfortable trusting all of their data to Google, and its perpetual "beta" applications. Which won't be any time soon.
If a product manufacturer is not confident enough with a product to call it anything but beta, you shouldn't trust that product.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
I wrote this hyped up nonsense in order to place ads on it and make a lot of money for my 10 min of effort. You're free not to visit or promote my page, but please don't steal my intellectual property.
:)
There, I fixed that for you.
I'm not sure this can really be considered 'intellectual' though...
non-broadband (or at least non-internet connected) users DON'T matter to Google.
Google is all about advertising and AdSense/Adwords. If you arent on the net you arent in their target market.
Non-broadband people might be a significant part of the OS market but they arent a significant part of Googles market.
These WebOS's that keep popping up are nothing more than proof-of-concept web pages that do nothing except prove that you can emulate the look and feel of a desktop OS using web technologies. They are in no way practical and anyone who thinks that a real company would pursue this option as a real OS solution rode the short bus as a child.
Looking at things from Google's perspective, they should want to support whatever could help topple MS. They have a spot of Apple's board, so they are helping Apple from a strategic standpoint. I think it is also important to note that Google is a supporter of open source and Linux, and it would not make sense for them to release their own distro when they could help to support an existing and privatly funded distro that has already made huge inroads (relatively speaking of course, in comparison to other linux desktops) in the desktop market, that being Ubuntu. I personally would like to see google throw their weight behind Ubuntu, as it would really get linux out there as a viable alternative to windows.
The idea that google is gonna release their own OS? Never gonna happen.
Similes are like metaphors
Google is a minimalist company. The Google OS will probably be a basic OS with the ability to check mail, maintain basic documents, your calendar, photos, and your news. Oh wait... thats already here! Am I the only one who realizes how much we're in the browser these days? When I'm writing in Writely I actually try to Alt+Tab out to my browser... before realizing I'm in my browser already.
I don't want to read
I'm waiting for Godot. Have you seen him? He should have been here yesterday...
Give a man a match: warm him for an instant. Douse him in petrol and set him aflame: warm him for the rest of his life.
And thats what is great, they are an ad agency willing to create brand new technologies just to push their ads. Hell they encourage their employers to create random technologies with 20% of their paid time that may or may not do Google any good.
I think its more likely that Google will just team up with an existing (preumably, some version of Linux) open-source OS distribution in a cross-promotion deal and by dedicating Google staff time to submitting code (and chrome) for it (and to work particularly on getting key applications working well on it): it provides the same insurance against Microsoft leveraging their OS/Browser position against Google that a "GoogleOS" would, and is what Google has essentially done in the browser space with their relationship with Mozilla (and RealNetworks).
The first thing I thought of when I saw Meebo in action was "coolness."
The second thing I thought was "Holy crap, an emulated windowing environment within a web browser."
Presumably the backend to run IM clients was straightforward enough; there are several open implementations. The reason, I think, they took the time to set this up is to show that you can actually run a GUI within a browser window and have it be convincingly responsive. They've gotta be hoping Google and some other corporations are attracted to this decentralized, client-naive way of computing.
In the right hands, this stands to be a boon for computing in general, as the OS becomes largely just another abstraction layer between the browser and the hardware. It would also be a boon for Linux as a viable desktop platform, because all you'd have to do is boot up into a web browser in kiosk mode to have functional (and cheap!) workstations, which are essentially OS-agnostic. Brilliant.
I always figured that GoogleOS is what we'd be explaining to our children as the reason we're living underground in caves, hiding from the robotic Google Search Engines that scour the earth looking for humans to "index". Oh, and it's also trying to send Ahhhnold back in time to eliminate "the one called Sara Connor".
Or maybe I've watched The Terminator a few too many times.
Wouldn't it be nice if all employers did that. That policy of Google's is my number one reason for wishing they'd hire me. Finally time and resources to work on pet projects and if they don't suck then millions of people could end up using my project. That'd be awesome.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
Right, because its not like Google doesn't reguarly give AOL money to keep Google the default AOL search engine.
Last I checked, sending text is not bandwidth intensive. So neither is AdSense.
When I go back to dialup at my grandma's house, Google is one of the few websites that still _feels_ fast. Plenty of dialup customers use Google. Saying these dialup customers don't matter is simply foolish.
Honestly, administering your own systems becomes a real pain in the arse. For all the standard stuff, I'd frankly rather not bother doing it for myself.
If Google produce a system with all the basics:
word processor, spreadsheet, email, all the office stuff, add on a small business accounts and customer relationship management you have a compelling product for small businesses and individuals. Charge $50 per year per seat.
Anyway, it wouldn't be aimed at us, it'd be aimed the people we serve. Damn... That puts me out of business... Wanders off to think about the future.
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Games and video doesn't work well over VNC. :)
Audio doesn't work too well unless you have a very good connection. I also haven't found any existing VNC clients that support audio... which seems kinda odd.