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Android Chief Squashes Rumors of Android Merging With Chrome OS (pcworld.com)
If you were holding out hope that Android and Chrome would one day merge into some kind of super OS that marries the desktop and mobile worlds once and for all, Google's senior vice president for Android, Chrome, and Chromecast Hiroshi Lockheimer has some bad news for you: It's not happening. From a PCWorld report: Speaking on the All About Android podcast, the mobile chief threw a giant bucket of cold water on the idea that the two platforms would eventually converge, despite recent rumors that suggest such a project is already in development at Google. "There's no point in merging them," Lockheimer said, pointing out sales of that Chromebooks overtook Macs in the first quarter of this year. "They're both successful." He added, Google's aim is "to make sure that both sides benefit from each other. ... You'll see a lot more of that happening, where we're cross-pollinating, but not a merge."
Do I want two seperate OSs designed specifically for desktop/mobile or do I want a mashup of the two. Tough choice...
Then comes the reality. I take this as a sure sign that the two OSes WILL merge!
To be fair, Chromebooks while outselling Macs, aren't really full desktop computers. Being what they are, they are good for most casual users for doing things that require internet, but suck on anything less than a full size screen, and that require a real keyboard. Macs are more than a Chromebook, but most people don't need them anymore, or have learned out to do less while saving 1500 on computer purchases.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
If you are hoping that android and chrome would merge, you are a fucking idiot. Everything doesn't need to be built on HTML/JS.
What WILL happen is: .Net developers
- future versions of Android and especially Android hardware will adopt a more ChromeOS-like update model
- ChromeOS will be increasingly capable of running Android apps over the top
- stored data will be abstracted to interoperate between apps on either platform (if it isn't already) and to stream from one device to the other
- You'll still need a real Windows device now because of bassackwards
It freezes frequently, and lacks the ability to play some of the media files it even purports to play.
The only good thing about ChromeOS is that if you try hard enough, you can still replace it with a real operating system.
If a Chrome OS device can run Android apps, why should these two OSs need to merge?
If Chrome OS could run well native versions of Micorsoft Office and Adobe apps and there were desktop machines running Chrome OS, Chrome OS might be on more computers than those running the kluge called Windows 10.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
Provide Android and Chrome runtimes on top of a proper *nix system. Dump busybox or whatever godawful toolbox they've built from scratch. Move to systemd (which I personally hate, but it is a good choice for desktop/mobile). Root out of the box. Proper package management.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
It must blow your mind when some of us buy both, and sometimes even use the Mac to run Windows (gasp!).
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
But aren't desktop Macs just laptop hardware attached to the back of a monitor sold as desktop computers?
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
If you were holding out hope that Android and Chrome would one day merge into some kind of super OS that marries the desktop and mobile worlds once and for all
I certainly wasn't hoping for that. I was fearing that it might come to pass.
For those interested
Andromium OS looks interesting.
Sounds like some potential sci-fi movie plots.
The Mac Mini is made from laptop components; the Mac desktop is a normal computer. The iMac is mostly components that you would expect from a desktop computer.
Kind've a moot point as Apple seems to only care about the laptops and doesn't seem to
Um, holy shit?
It's not going to happen.
Until someone above him wants it to happen and it will happen.
He's not the one that will make that choice. If that choice is made, he will follow.
ChromeOS is great. It has a record of security, it performs well, it respects user privacy with both multi-user and "multi profiles," and no routine access to permanent cookies like serial numbers, it has good disk encryption and sane use of TPM, it has few enough regressions that it can auto-update instead of presenting users with notifications, "do you want to update?" so they can "choose" between regressions and features, it has SD card slots, it publishes the development source publicly instead of making big source drops every christmas, its app platform is the web so you are not tied to silly "stores," and it supports a diverse set of devices for 5 years after start-of-sale so the monthly cost of an up-to-date top-of-the-line chromebook is less than the monthly cost of a budget Nexus phone.
Android compromises the user left and right to everyone who asks: developers who want to track people with hardware serial number and single profile per phone, manufacturers who want to push bloatware or remove sd card slots, carriers who want to "approve" builds or push customer service spyware onto phones or tie core functions like GPS to their network. It has a much worse record of quality. It doesn't support crouton. The devices are expensive. The encryption is less good, with no real TPM. and Chrome browser on Android has certain features blocked and no source.
If the OSes ever "merge", obviously bugs and code quality will be lowest common denominator. Which side do you think will get the deciding word on all this squishy necktie business stuff?