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Chrome OS and Android "Will Likely Converge" In the Future
xchg writes "When Google first announced that the company would be pursuing development of two distinct operating systems, many questioned Google's motivation. 'Google executives, including CEO Eric Schmidt, have downplayed the conflict ever since, asking for time to let the projects evolve. And a few days after Chrome OS was revealed, Android chief Andy Rubin said device makers "need different technology for different products," explaining that Android has a lot of unique code that makes it suitable for use in a phone and Chrome has unique benefits of its own. But Brin, speaking informally to reporters after the company's Chrome OS presentation on Thursday, said "Android and Chrome will likely converge over time," citing among other things the common Linux and Webkit code base present in both projects.'"
Oh, how deliciously amusing this is. It looks like the Linux guys are now in the same boat as the GNU guys were in that they want a share of the recognition someone using parts of their system has achieved.
*Chuckle*
...no one should be asking.
The whole point of mobile apps is that they're supposed to be for situations where you don't have a lot of hard drive capacity to be holding applications. To condemn laptops to lives as portable dumb terminals makes no sense to me. (And I've tried Chrome OS within VirtualBox, so I have at least some base of reference.) You can get decent battery life without castrating a machine, and local storage gives you a much better experience.
I understand that the current version of Chrome OS isn't how it's going to stay, but the design philosophy itself is absurd. Google should release much more powerful Web apps if they want anyone to take the idea of a laptop Web OS seriously.