Slashdot Mirror


Chrome OS, Present and Future

Many readers are submitting stories related to Google Chrome OS. ruphus13 points out a GigaOm opinion piece about how, if users end up rejecting its current cloud-only focus, the nascent OS may succeed as a netbook secondary operating system alongside Windows (in company with secondaries based on other Linux flavors, including Android). Engadget reviews a Chrome OS on a USB key setup that is claimed to offer eye-opening performance compared to running under virtualization. And an anonymous reader notes the 0.1 beta release of ChromeShell, which installs a "Chrome OS-like" environment that boots to the Chrome browser in ~3 seconds; users can switch to Windows later as desired.

3 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. False! by sys.stdout.write · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you read the linked ChromeShell page, it says it goes from standby to the Chrome browser in 3 seconds.

    It actually takes 30 seconds to boot, which isn't much better than Windows. Actually, is that even better?

    1. Re:False! by chabotc · · Score: 3, Informative

      Of course if you even read the slashdot summary you would see that ChromeShell is a 'ChromeOS like' type thing, and not ChromeOS at all.

      ChromeOS boots (that's full bootup and not resuming) in 7 seconds, and resumes in 3. They're working with bios firmware vendors to improve this though so boot times could become even less

  2. Re:Useful by Unoti · · Score: 3, Informative

    And the only reason there aren't any viruses or trojans yet is because no one uses it yet. People will write them when the user base shifts. To imagine that there aren't any flaws in the system is a sad joke in naitivity

    Perhaps you should consider reading up on how Chrome OS is designed. The argument you posted above sounds like you're applying the same kind of logic to Chrome OS that you would to any other flavor of Linux. Chrome OS is actually an entirely different ball game, and fundamentally does not let you install software on the machine. This and other design considerations make it radically more secure from security attacks than conventional operating systems.