gOS "Cloud" instant-on OS comes to Gigabyte touchscreen netbooks
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Dec 1st 2008 1:38PM
posted Dec 1st 2008 1:38PM
Not that we were too impressed with gOS when we first saw Rocket almost a year ago, but Cloud -- the small footprint, quick boot Linux variant that Good OS introduced today at the Netbook World Summit in Paris -- looks like an altogether different beast. Arriving pre-installed alongside Windows on the new Gigabyte touchscreen netbooks (perhaps some variant of the M912V), the new SplashTop-esque OS uses a web browser as its main interface, with an integrated dock providing such Web 2.0 mainstays as Skype, YouTube and the Google family of apps -- and if this smattering of tools doesn't meet all of your computing needs, you can always boot into your main OS from there. Cloud can be installed as a dual-boot partition on your hard drive or SSD as well as onto a flash chip hardwired onto a motherboard. That's all we have for now, but you can bet we'll be on hand to check it out at CES in January.
That WiFi icon (next to windows icon) looks an awful lot like the 't' in Engadget's logo. Maybe you should send them a letter you know, like the one you guys got from T-Mobile.
It's a dot with concentric arcs?
Anyways this looks like a great bootup option for laptops and such. I wouldn't mind having it at all. I wonder if it allows music and video/DVD playback as well.
This would be a good base OS for CarPC's too, now that I think about it.
I don't think the wifi symbol belongs to Google. I think its already patented by the wifi consortium.
Furthermore, everything about this OS looks like OSX and if it works as well as it looks like it should, that's a very good thing.
Frankly, I see Microsoft loosing ALOT of their Windows and IE patrons within the next 5 years - unless they bring out some major enhancements because its already obvious, netbook manufacturers and notebook manufacturers (like HP) want to make their own OS's or use something a little newer than XP and a little more hardware friendly than Vista.
On laptops and on phones, the licensed OS makes a huge difference. If this Google OS is touchscreen, it would be really cool on a netbook or a cellphone. And besides, the work has already been done for them. Just "copy/paste" !
Gigabyte will pay Engadget? More likely Engadget will praise Gigabyte products for 3 years in a row xD
@ Flashpoint:
gOS is not designed by Google. It is a Linux variant that was most likely designed to make you think along those lines. I believe that one of the designers had previously worked for Apple, so that explains the design similarity to OSX.
Also, it's way more difficult to design an operating environment for a phone than simple "copy/paste". Take a look at all the work that has been done on Android (and other open phone platforms) and you'll see why.
It really is not a wi-fi icon, it really is a link to Engadget :P
Now I'm curious as to how good this "touchscreen" part really is. I'd love to see a netbook have tablet abilities someday.
Ive been looking around for a while. The review at Laptop mag makes it seem like it works, but its not amazing.
Im still debating about whether to get the M912V, or a Wind. I really would prefer a tablet, so I could comfortably use it for eBooks.
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/gigabyte-m912v.aspx
Is that not just Chrome with Object dock sitting on top of it?
Yes, yes it is.
aaah what your missing is that now you can have chrome with avant window navigator soldered permanently to your motherboard.
Permanently.
You can NEVER get it off.
Ever.
Unless you erase the disk, then you would have 512mb of useless storage space
Permanently.
You can NEVER get it off.
Ever.
Next up, the ability to launch Open GL games without booting all the way to windows. Oh wait, we were able to do that before weren't we. Yea, Bill was smart to be out and leave Steve to not only contend with Linux and OSx, but all of these new quick boot pre windows OS (with ever increasing function) shenanigans. Good luck Steve OG...
'i' think it's a good idea even though it resembles osx interface,
they could of at least used fire fox or safari instead of google's chrome beta that like using internet explore (poor experience) to surf the web
so what? the platform is rubbish and hardly worth the money you lay out for it
Just because it has a dock means it looks like osx?
not necessarily, but when I saw it that's the first thing I thought of and I'm primarily a Windows user.
http://www.stardock.com/products/objectdock/
check out a previous OS attempt from gOS
http://www.thinkgos.com/gos-space.php
they seem to be actually trying to look just like Apple
instant on = instant party
Instant lob-on.
Whats so bad in waiting for 30 seconds before the laptop boots on?
Show me the Windows installation that boots in 30 seconds INCLUDING all that background crap that makes your computer crawl for the first minute or more, and I'll show you an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond that's actually funny.
With a five-second boot, I could pull out a laptop, boot it up, check the phone number/map/address/meeting info/miscellaneous tidbit of info, shut it back down, and be on my way comfortably in under a minute. I've never done that with my laptop while running a vlite-edited vista install, Fedora, or Ubuntu.
Ever since I got my SSD in my laptop(XP Pro SP3)... its pretty close to 30 seconds.. I need to time it someday..
@ jarvay: I actually just installed tiny so rev 09 and it boots in about 32 seconds. Granted it is stripped to the BONE.
Just saying.
@jorvay
"Show me the Windows installation that boots in 30 seconds INCLUDING all that background crap that makes your computer crawl for the first minute or more, and I'll show you an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond that's actually funny."
Come on over, I'll show you my desktop that boots to Windows XP in 30 seconds. To top it all off, it's even an older system. AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+, 2GB DDR 400 (PC3200), 256MB GeForce 7800 GTX.
Here's a real shocker, but be prepared. If you actually know what a computer does, how to use said computer, and use your operating system correctly you will have no "INCLUDING all that background crap that makes your computer crawl for the first minute or more" issues.
You're probably one of those retards that downloads "Desktop Wallpaper Switcher for Flikr" and WeatherBug and the countless other bullshit you choose to install. All of which have system tray apps that need to load before your desktop is usable. Then you get on the internets and whine about how Windows is so horribly slow, when in fact you are the sole reason Windows is slow.
Please explain to me how I've had my computer for over 4 years now, and every single time I boot it takes the same amount of time, every time. You'll soon realize that roughly 90% of the "my Windoze is slow" complaints are because the user actually put themselves in that position on their own.
9 second boot of Windows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PiYgBhAkAM
25 seconds from pushing "Reboot" until it is usable again. I bet it would be even faster if BIOS didn't take 10 seconds to load.
http://www.engadget.com/2005/06/02/boot-up-in-seconds-with-the-iram/
Flawless.
why boot? just put the laptop on standby. u need 2 seconds to get into the windows.
My eeePC boots to XP desktop in ~20 seconds, is connected at 25 seconds, and firefox is up at 30 seconds.
Give me a little credit Dubb. I'm a long-time linux user who's Windows installations collect dust 99% of the time. I know that you can get both XP and Vista to boot damn fast if you strip it down, and trust me, mine are stripped down and uncluttered (since I almost never use them). However, even the best virus software slows things down a bit with updates and other nonsense, and even I play it safe and keep some form of virus protection running on my Windows partitions.
There's also the other crap that takes a while: wifi activation if you're not hard-wired, update checks for this piece of software and that, which you actually want to stay up-to-date. Not automatic updates mind you, but just notifications that updates are available. Also, advanced networking configuration can slow things down a bit. And god forbid if you have Outlook set to automatically start on boot (thank god I don't). The more software you have on your machine, the slower it seems to be. And I mean software I need, like CAD tools, not .
Then there's my business machine...where I don't have a say in how it's setup, and god knows there's a lot of crap going on there. Enterprise software, multiple server and DB syncs, outlook, insane virus protection software and other crap.
For the ideal computer, a quick boot like this gOS example would be a nice touch. For the average computer, this would be almost live-changing.
i'm typing this from gOS right now, and yes they are trying to be like apple. The buttons for windows are on the left, the drop down boxes are all rounded, etc. But it's not like ms isn't trying to copy apple either.
Seeing you on the web makes my surfing experience pretty poor.
Object Dock + Chrome =/= OSX
Ever since i saw the M912V i liked the idea of a tablet that small. Instant on with those options is alright in my book. Lower the price and i'd consider.
That comment was obviously meant for "CLAK", who apparently has some side deal with engadget to not be replied to. Very curious indeed.
It's because his name has a ' in it. This is something Weblogs could fix in about an hour if they wanted to. Letting people use quotes as part of there screen name is stupid, and it just invites SQL injection attacks. Web 101 people. If you guys at Weblogs need some help in the technical department (and it looks like you do) I have some time next week.
I like my conspiracy theory better.
Then again i never took Web 101. Thank you for the explanation. Engadget, you're off the hook. For now.
(obligatory) DUHN duhn DUUUHHHHHHHN!
I like the idea of having a back up instant on operating system built into the motherboard, if something goes wrong with my desktop OS it would be nice to have a way to easily access the files on my hard drive.
I'm intrigued… I can't find a place to download it, it seems it hasn't been released yet they are simply previewing it. I'd like to run this on an older laptop to surf on the couch or let guests use.
I'm confused..I thought that Chrome was windows only(for now..I checked chromium's dev site). Isn't gOS linux based?
That was my first thought too. I couldn't find any information on what browser they're using. I doubt it's chrome. My guess is that they modified firefox to look like chrome, but we'll see when it's actually released. They're trying pretty hard to look like an operation sponsored by Google. I wonder what they think of this project.
I believe there were plans for a linux port of chrome but it hadn't matured yet it was always planed for used in the android system on top of Linux and ARM
AFAIK all the Linux port of Chrome does is run some command line tests of various internal systems. There's no UI yet.
"Standard x86 Processor"
That killed it for me. I was hoping to see it could work on PowerPC architecture. I think this would be perfect for PS3. All most people want from Linux on their PS3 is a better browser. I think this would be perfect for that type of user.
1) It boots in seconds
2) Has an easy boot button that could be modified to reboot the PS3 into the XMB OS.
3) Brings the user a better browser and quick and easy access to apps that wont run on the PS3 browser, Calendar, Reader, etc.
It isn't going to happen ... stop buying into closed platforms (basically anything SONY)
and this whole I don't wanna invest in an open platform hacker attitude is stupid (not that I'm saying you have that I have just run across acouple homebrew dudes that were like that)
want and open cellphone get a G1 or openmoko .... want an open game system wait for a pandora
First off it's been my dream that the PS4 and PSP2 would adopt Google Android because of what you're saying so please dont judge me.
Second, I like the fact that THIS is a closed platform. It gives people a quick and easy option. If people want something robust they can install any other flavor of Linux, they have their pick. This would be perfect for those users who just want a better browsing experience, something quick and easy, non-complicated, and not a disk hog. If Sony updated the PS3 so that you could chose the partition size for "Other OS" then this would be perfect. Last I checked you were still forced to partition at least 10GB to the other os.
ever tried using the GPU in Linux on the PS3? you can't
there is no reason for them to disallow it but they do
closed systems are bad for everyone period as is DRM it is inevitably defeated and merely raises the cost to the developers
There is a reason, to keep people from pirating games. People have already been able to get into Bluray games, if they gave them access to boot the games then you'd see piracy running rampant. Custom firmware and piracy is the reason PSP's hardware sales are way up but software sales never go anywhere.
I would rather my consoles be locked down than let all the dorks on the internet kill game sales and push developers elsewhere. I hate the morons who get this "im a genius"/entitlement syndrome after they download a bit torrent client. It's like they think since they're smart enough to install a program on Windows, they now have the right to get everything for free.
"A Linux operating system designed for the 100,000,000 MySpace users."
>_>
Like they'd even know how to format a disk.
some of us know quite a bit more....
four...mat?
Who the hell cares about gOS?
The real question here is when the hell did they start holding a "Netbook World Summit"!? Really? It's a "world" summit? I know these little notebooks have been becoming more popular, but wow, a World summit... Who would have thought???
what I want to see is ELive in a splashtop environment and either firefox or webkit (afaik webkit is beating firefox and chrome for speed)
http://www.elivecd.org/
I believe it could be done since enlightenment can run with very low resources with a minimum of 100mhz (this is actually true since you can find quite a few videos of smart phones running it well) and 64mb ram
http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/16/2055235
Webkit is a rendering engine, and its already used in Safari, Chrome, and Konqueror.
chrome is not entirely equal to webkit it is a fork as webkit is a fork of khtml used in konqueror (are they actually useing webkit now I don't think so)
"Netbook World Summit"
Really? Really? A world summit for netbooks?
Some people have a lot of time on there hands....
Amazing! So I can install gOS Cloud onto my notebook and boot in seconds when I am at airport and need to check mails....
I love this!
Or just keep it in stand by (if your battery is good) and get the full experience :P
Well, my notebook is old so the battery life is really poor. Will upgrade my notebook this Christmas. Its good to keep a 1 Gig partition and install this OS, so I can boot quickly when I just need the browser or Skype...
I, on the other hand, think that encasing the word I in quotes would invalidate your opinion. But that's just "my" opinion. I prefer free-range pronouns.
Dammit, why didn't that attach to the low-ranker up there? Hate!
I spy chrome on Linux!
chromium
I think it's a mockup. Scroll down button is missing. Someone forgot to put it back when they cropped the bottom of the browser window and moved the border up. The caption buttons and text have been changed but this could be the result of small modifications to the source code (or more mocking up) to get a nice looking screenshot.
But I really don't think they've ported it to Linux yet. IIRC a lot of what Chrome does on Windows just doesn't work on Linux as well (one process drawing onto a window owned by another process and processing clicks etc from that window) and would need a bit of experimentation and hacking to make it work properly.
This could serve as a pretty nice GUI substitute for GRUB. The only downside is it wouldnt time out, so you would actually have to click in.
How configurable is that dock?
Add:
some form of multi-protocol IM client (is there one on the web, that will store logs and everything?),
a link for taking me straight to LJ,
a link for booting to Linux (though, I'd probably go with Ubuntu over gOS).
Remove: the (Orkut?) link, the Blogger link, and the Windows booter link.
I'd probably be on board with that. If the IM client option is good enough (native Pidgin might be cool, too), I might not need a "main OS" at all. Eliminate the internal hard drive, or use a small flash drive for storing minimal stuff (IM logs, for example). Or put a 3G card its place.
why cant we use it while the system boots up...there could be a little bar showing the status of the system booting built into the "boot windows" icon, and once youve been using it for a while windows would be fully loaded...you could click switch to windows/gOS, cloud would close and windows would be up and running?...