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."

Comments

Put another way

[Anonymous Coward]

"Chrome OS puts in Legacy Security Flaws"

Re:Put another way

[jvin248]

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/)

Re:Put another way

[RocketRabbit]

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.

news at eleven

[crunzh]

Oh, they intend to implement remote control of another computer functionality. Whats the news in this, you can even do this on a iphone!

Re:news at eleven

[macara]

But here you're 'Chromoting' instead of iRemoting, totally different you see, now if you'll excuse me I need to Chreply to other stories...

Re:news at eleven

[ronocdh]

I think the idea here is to provide attractive functionality at a disguised cost. Once Apple switched over to Intel processors, anyone could run Windows on their Macs. But hardly anyone did, because who wants to reboot so often?

This will be touted the same way: "Keep your Windows apps!" But in the end, everyone will wind up using Google Docs, Gmail, etc. And that's just how Google wants it.

Re:news at eleven

[Rogerborg]

you can even do this on a iphone!

Or 10 years ago on an iPaq. Or 23 years ago on an NCD. And I'll bet someone will be out in a moment to tell me to get off their lawn and come up with an earlier example.

Re:news at eleven

[oakgrove]

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.

Re:news at eleven

[Glendale2x]

It is revolutionary to the uninitiated, just like the "my first smartphone" iPhone adding multitasking is revolutionary.

Probably won't work too great...

[maccodemonkey]

The iPad has a pretty nice Microsoft Remote Desktop client that I use when I need to quickly build a Windows project, or view logs from one of our Windows servers. Not really a complete solution, as obviously the standard bandwidth limits apply. If I'm on 3G or slow wifi it's borderline unusable. Still nice to have the option I suppose.

Bored with all the Google hype

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm getting really bored with all the hype flowing from Google lately. What with Chrome OS and Google TV, there seems to be an awful lot of fuss being made over what in both cases is essentially vaporware. Anyone having tried the latest Chromium OS builds (the code base from which Chrome OS will be built) will see that this project has a very long way to go before it is anything like usable.

Re:Bored with all the Google hype

[kjart]

I'm getting really bored with all the hype flowing from Google lately. What with Chrome OS and Google TV, there seems to be an awful lot of fuss being made over what in both cases is essentially vaporware. Anyone having tried the latest Chromium OS builds (the code base from which Chrome OS will be built) will see that this project has a very long way to go before it is anything like usable.

Agreed. I also don't really understand the appeal of Chrome OS - it's only a browser. If this gets you excited, install the Chrome browser and fullscreen it - tadda!

FreeNX

[CdBee]

I suspect this is another outing for Google's NeatX FreeNX Server

If they make it go through their authentication systems instead of publishing an external IP address that could be a lot safer - ie, as long as the computer's properly protected and access is limited to the appropriate IP range it shouldnt pose any greater risk than running a legacy app on a computer you're sitting at

Re:FreeNX

[nurb432]

Tho it appears there is still no windows server. Gonna need that before its a viable solution.

Re:Clunky

[CdBee]

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...

Especially the ChromeOS hype

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:Seems pretty cool to me

[aztracker1]

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.

But aim it at mums, dads, and other non-techies..

[djsmiley]

"which is hardly a technological leap given that numerous applications today offer users an analogous screen-sharing / remote access functionality."

This would be true, if Apple couldn't sell a new version of phone even with the fact it can't play mp3s as ringtones.

Why remote access seems to every techie the most normal thing in the world, its a whole different ball game getting it to a level in which my mum can understand it. If they can get this right then she wont care that she could of done it 10 years ago with some other software.

Making existing "raw" tech usable is a big deal

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a lot of this shit going on. *If* this is a usable VNC client that creates an easy to set up and easy to use solution for running windoze apps on Chrome this is a big deal.
It takes *work* and *skill* to make existing technology/software usable and attractive. That's why Apple is doing well, if it was easy everyone would be doing it. Please everyone just understand this simple fact.

Re:VNC

[Darkness404]

Does it -need- to be done though? We could also implement VNC running through WINE piping output through a serial port being encoded by an Arduno and then sent back upside down which is in turn flipped over by a BASIC script. That doesn't mean that it is always a good idea to do things a weird way when native apps usually work better.

Doesn't this already exist?

[TimothyDavis]

Isn't this the same thing as the Microsoft Terminal Services RemoteApp application?

Re:But aim it at mums, dads, and other non-techies

[fermion]

I think what Google is doing is providing technology is average users that can be supported by a primarily ad based model. Google grew up in time when the world was becoming wired up, and Google was able to use that increased networking, primarily paid for by external public and private sources, to grow a business model. In a fully connected world, with clock cycles costing infinitesimal amounts of money, it is now possible to provide centralized compter resources in exchange for ads. This provides value to the end user as he or she no longer needs to administer the resources. The technological advance, as in so many cases of large companies, is the ability to deliver a service at a lower cost.

This was what MS did in the days prior to the widespread internet. It provided software, only some of which was purchased, that could be freely installed on business machines. This provided an alternative to Unix hardware and software, all which had to be paid for, often at what we would now consider exorbitant prices. Of course, there were things that MS stuff could not do. We have gone full circle in that MS now wants $500 for software, while Apple is selling software for $30, and most stuff for Unix is free.

What people want is service, the technical details are of little concern. I can change any song into a ringtone for my iPhone. The fact that it is a fake m4a instead of an mp3 is of no concern. What is of a concern is that ringtones have never cost me a thing on the iPhone. If I am looking at $100 for a fake copy of MS Office, and $300 for MS Windows that will constantly hound me to prove that it is a legitimate copy, then perhaps running a copy of chrome with Google hosting all my documents is a rational thing to do. We can complain that it old tech, but it is only the early adopters that a fetishizing new tech enough to actually spend huge amounts of money on it.

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Comment removed based on user account deletion

But isn't it Linux ?

[w0mprat]

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.