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Chrome OS To Support "Legacy" PC Apps Through Remote Access
adeelarshad82 writes "According to a message posted to a public mailing list dedicated to Chrome OS, a new feature is in the works that will grant users access to 'legacy PC applications' through some kind of remote desktop connection process. Google software engineer Gary Kamark, who first spilled the beans on the feature, calls the process 'Chromoting.' The current speculation amongst Chrome enthusiasts is that the Chromoting process is more akin to a VPN/sharing functionality than anything else. In that case, one would have to leave one's Windows-based desktop or laptop system on in order to access apps via a connected Chrome OS computer — which is hardly a technological leap given that numerous applications today offer users an analogous screen-sharing / remote access functionality."
Not sure why someone would want to invest in an OS that needs to emulate, or remote into others to get some benefit of another OS (windows or otherwise). Seems like if you need to do that, why not just use the OS you are remoting/emulating?
Well you could have one powerhouse of a server running flat-out and many lightweight clients (ARM chips are very power efficient) connected to it as clients. Might draw a lot less power than the traditional 'many moderately powered machines running local apps' setup
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
I would hazard a guess that Google's spin will be that you login with your google login and password, and it finds your machines IP address and connects you, or offers a list of machines to which you have a right to connect...
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
Look at it: it's just an OS with everything but the browser stripped out. You know what? Those other parts were actually useful and stripping them out makes no sense. GNU/Linux can run a browser just fine; it can also run quite a lot of Windows programs through Wine without the need for any kind of remoting. So, Chrome can run under Windows? Well, guess what... Linux can do that too. And it can run all the native applications out there, which by and large yield a better user experience (not to mention performance) than a browser-based app can. Don't even think about 3D games. Sometimes less is simply less.
It's not Apple... MS is fine with you buying a Windows license for the machine you are remoting into. I suspect Apple is pretty okay with it to. MS hasn't really ever tried to stop the likes of VNC, PC-Anywhere, GoToMyPC, etc. I do think this is pretty much non-news though. Unless they add a value like the auto-proxy that gotomypc does. Remote desktop does work pretty well as it stands. I don't know the cost of terminal server licensing for windows, but for organizations with this kind of push, it may be worthwhile. I've been a proponent for remote desktop agents for a while now, as you can tighten down security into a very narrow secured port that has access to a remote desktop server (linux or windows). Don't have to worry about a stolen laptop compromising, when all that is on it is a remote client that doesn't save passwords.
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
Isn't this the same thing as the Microsoft Terminal Services RemoteApp application?
And if they really want to impress, make it so locally connected USB devices can be transparently passed through to the computer I'm connected to a la VirtualBox's similar trick.
The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
This is really a diversion from the real application: Chrome OS with an advanced integrated Wine implementation.
All the goodness of Linux with a measure of "backwards compatibility" - because that is what general users want.
General users like the idea of Linux, but fear they will have to learn something new (OpenOffice is _so_ much different than MSOffice of course...).
I still remember fondly the Slax "Kill Bill Edition" back from 2005 - it had some wine integration.
The new target for Linux though is OS X, especially for Ubuntu.(see purple theme 10.04).
So what does it take to have a Mac-Wine equivalent? To run all those Mac and Hackintoshed programs?
quick search turned up these possibilitites: (http://www.puredarwin.org/, http://mac-on-linux.sourceforge.net/, http://sheepshaver.cebix.net/)
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Why not run native? It would be ok for at least basic apps depending on hardware power. My understanding is Chrome has debian underpinnings at this point. To the point that getting WINE to run on it would not be considered pass marks for a geek card.
If you want to run Windows apps natively on chrome it's going to certainly be possible and will be solved within hours of the OS hitting production.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
You're missing a very important point:
Only a masochist puts Linux on a Mac. This is why hackintoshes exist in the first place: because sometimes Linux is NOT an adequate solution!
Your chances of converting somebody who is running OS X to Linux is approaching zero, outside the lab at least.