http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 1:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 2:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Just an observation!



]]>Jul 8th 2009 2:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 3:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/"What do people do with netbooks? Surf the web, send email, take notes, do some light word processing work? This is the perfect market for a lightweight, fast, instant-on OS. That's what they're after."

Just wait till somebody tries to sync an iPod with ChromeOS netbook...]]>Jul 8th 2009 3:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Quite so. I do so hope that the big G puts out a very nice product, if not because I just like free things that are nice, then only to serve the purpose of providing an operating system with enough traction to spur innovation from the incumbents (I'm focusing in windows, here, but the *nix based systems as well.) While I disagree with Ross Rubin's assertion that there's no room for google to fit in, I think the plethora of (what they're now calling) ~$200 smartbooks (the pricerange I expected from netbooks until someone decided they were too inexpensive) will attest to. If google avoids the pitfalls that have hindered the mainstream linux-based free operating systems before them -- like inefficiency, with the outdated X windowing system and developer fragmentation with incompatible desktop environments and toolkits, to name a few -- I think google stands a shot at making a splash. (They've got most of that covered already, by the way.) Oh yea, not to mention the astronomical level of publicity and hardware/manufacturer/OEM/ODM (...) support google is bound to get, I'm sufficiently satisfied with this turn of events to consider myself, "F*CKING STOKED!"]]>Jul 8th 2009 4:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
You see, when you have a uniform, homogenic, environment for developers, the benefits to the end users (not just consumers, but also businesses) are by far much greater than if you have tons of OS options since the development of applications (and let's face it, we use Windows not because of Windows, but because of all the programs we want/need/crave/must have) will be spread across those platforms and those few cross platform ones will be much more expensive due to several development versions for each OS.

So, while AMD vs. Intel is great to the consumers, because they're essentially the same chips with different logos, if IBM came into play and suddenly ate 30% of the marketshare and consumers bought these chips for much less than Intel or AMD, they'd be stuck with a very few OS options and ultimately their experience would be much worse than if they spent a few bucks more on an Intel chip which'd ultimately have given them a complete freedom of choice for their OS and programs.

Same here, if we start to have, say, 25 OS manufacturers each with significant portions of the marketshare, the software developers would be living in hell! They'd have much tougher decision choices and if they chose to develop for all or at least many of the platforms, the software would be buggy, slow, or extremely expensive due to this issue.

Look not too distant in the past for programs like Maya (Power Animator at that time) or Softimage 3D on SGI. These programs costed hundreds of thousands of dollars and only engineers and scientists had the privilege to touch these. Nowdays? Every single artist-wannabe has an installation of Maya or Softimage XSI on their system and can toy with them at any time on an average consumer PC! Also the quality of these programs increased proportionally due to hosting environment homogenity! Even though Maya and XSI run both on Windows and Linux, the Linux versions are terrible in comparison, since Linux, yet again, offers too many choices and they ultimately chose the worst one (not at the time of the decision making) for these programs and therefore Maya and XSI suffer on Linux, while on Windows, it's flawless, at least in regards to the user interface etc... Another factor, due to many choices, Linux versions are MUCH more expensive than Windows versions.

So, in the end, keep your mind open and don't tend to have skewed view of the development and OS environment. Even though Windows aren't the perfect OS on the market, Microsoft must have done something really good that they're the best and most used overall OS on the market which provides a great, homogenous, evnrionment for software developers which, in the end, ultimately means the best software for the users!]]>Jul 8th 2009 5:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Microsoft patented/bought their way into a dominant position and they are abusing patents and their market share to keep people developing for their platform. Not because it's easier, but because they have the market share...

Maybe you can convince Microsoft to use open standards so your Intel/AMD comparison actually would work in the Operating system environment. I'm pretty sure (98.5673%) that Apple/Linux can't even license DirectX specifications so they might have a shot in hell at running games stable. I'm also pretty sure that you can't license Win32 API technology so they can run pretty much any application on their platform as well.

So really, there's only one company you can blame for the lack of competition...]]>Jul 8th 2009 7:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Yeah, and what the outcome of this is? The end users don't give a shit, because, again, if you run OS for the sake of running an OS, then there's something wrong with you. I run OS to host applications I use daily, I need, I work with, I must have. Which means, if the devs have much easier and faster development cycles due to a uniform dev. environment, then in the end I get better software for less bucks!

I honestly don't give a shit about Windows, Linux (any distro for that matter) or OSX. If it runs my apps for a reasonable price, what's the problem? I really don't have problems with Microsoft dominating 99% of the market or more, as long as it means better and more quality software for less money.

Btw: if you own 95% of the market you are de-facto the standard. So nonsense like "Maybe you can convince Microsoft to use open standards..." doesn't make any sense as in fact it's the "open standards" that should conform to Microsoft, if you think about it.]]>Jul 9th 2009 5:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 9th 2009 6:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
I have to say, while your explanation is valid for the most part, the problem here is that Windows got its dominance not by being a better dev environment (per se), but through smart business deals at critical times. In a less money-driven world, the dominant OS would be the one that was the easiest to develop for. And in that case, yes, homogeneity is good because the majority OS is also the best OS.

Thus, in the case of Windows, dominating 99% of the market is a concern because it hasn't led to better and more quality software; you just have to look at how many issues there are with Windows to see that. If Microsoft was on the ball and fixed problems earlier, as they came, that would've been good. It's a pity that they have only recently decided to take a serious look at the security aspect of their OS.

Not being familiar with the Windows 7 architecture (nor Linux), I have to say that OS X has quite a good foundation, from a programmer's point of view, with many simple APIs that can be used easily to achieve slick results, and a core philosophy that makes sense (ie. no registry, no folders upon folders of support files for every program installed, etc). From what I do know, Windows 7 seems to have improved quite a lot in these respects, and it's great to see Microsoft finally taking steps to rewrite their OS for more modern times.

Now if only Microsoft will stop taking industry-defined standards, changing them, then forcing them to be de facto standards through the OS monopoly. I think a consortium of companies will be able to define standards to a much higher quality than any single company (two head better than one, etc). So no, I'd rather Microsoft conform to 'open standards', not the other way around.]]>Jul 9th 2009 8:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
I really don't see anything wrong with Windows and the way the market adopts it. Even with its own mistakes and bad decisions, Microsoft still must have done something really well to be the top player, otherwise... well, the market would have mercylessly rejected them.

But I agree, a consortium of some sort for standard definition, including TOP players in the field (Microsoft, Apple, Intel etc...) would be great, but, on the other hand, who'd benefit most? Well, I dare to say Linux. So, does Microsoft really want that? They don't have too much to gain right now.]]>Jul 9th 2009 1:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Even so, it's also unreasonable to claim there is no 'real' competition when systems like Ubuntu have been friendly to the typical home user for years.]]>Jul 10th 2009 10:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
The thing is, these will run under Windows, Mac and Linux with a compatible browser, making the OS secondary to the web experience.]]>Jul 8th 2009 1:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 1:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 1:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
What do people do with netbooks? Surf the web, send email, take notes, do some light word processing work? This is the perfect market for a lightweight, fast, instant-on OS. That's what they're after.]]>Jul 8th 2009 1:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 1:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 1:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 2:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
This is the first editorial I've read about the OS announcement that seems to get that: Chrome OS is not meant to BE OS X, Windows 7, or any other desktop Linux distro. It does closer match the goals of gOS, though. With more and more applications moving to the cloud, the emphasis on connectivity, portability, and battery longevity are dimensions to the OS equation that aren't properly addressed under the old operating system paradigms. No, it doesn't make a competitive desktop OS, but Google is anticipating the evolution of how we use our computers, and positioning themselves much more appropriately than the competitors.]]>Jul 8th 2009 2:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Americans love to have a physical product (even if it was a box with air in it) I think the prospect of using "web apps" as a primary productivity source will be hard to grasp. I think younger generations are going to be more willing to accept it (this being the under 25 crowd who got there first major taste of Digital Distribution via Video Game DLC). If you have a choice between boxed and digital software, the majorty of the time people will go with the boxed software with the (probably unfounded) fear that the digital version might someday become no longer available and i will need it.

It will be interesting to say the least, and while I'm not interested in becoming an early adopter (I'm happy with windows 7 and have never had a need for a netbook) I am always open for new innovation in the market. ]]>Jul 8th 2009 2:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
:)

]]>Jul 8th 2009 3:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
And pray tell, how do you know that?

"making the OS secondary to the web experience."

So, in your opinion, the not-so-bright guys at Google (because we know, Google is famous for hiring these kind of people) will wake up in 2010 and realise, "OMG, we have build an OS for nothing! People are using apps we mindlessly made available for other OSs with other OSs! Shouldn't we have developed them exclusively for our OS?". Likely, eh?]]>Jul 8th 2009 4:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Does a normal user doesn't fire up their computer and think "I can't wait for the direct experience shared memory segments and Berkeley sockets and non-blockable select() calls."

Prose you don't notice is good prose. Unless you're a developer, I would think the same of an OS too (disparaging remarks about Windows being unstable, aside)

]]>Jul 8th 2009 5:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
It's not the young that are more willing to accept web apps, it's the mobile users and mobile-OS users that are. I'm over 25 and I was attracted to and use google docs because, as a developer, I find myself switching from mac os, to linux, to windows, to my pda and needing to access my notes. Plus, I often write code or prose on the go. There's plenty of people in America having my profile, regardless of age.

On top of that, there are plenty of companies with very mobile employees (Consulting companies mostly), where the line between personal use and business use of a digital toy is a blur. In these cases, many people want to use their own digital toy of personal choice; a mac, a pc, an iPhone, a blackberry. They would be attracted to web apps for their platform neutral stance and flexible access.

Finally, plenty of vital businesses of fortune 500 companies go through web apps already. Think CRMs like Salesforce.

]]>Jul 8th 2009 5:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 9:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 9th 2009 4:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Also, will the corporates bite the bullet? even MS found it tough to sell Vista to businesses...]]>Jul 9th 2009 12:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Nerds and tech freaks will love this, but Joe and Jane consumer will want their existing world to be fully replicated with little or no grief for them.

That, I think, is still a loooooooong way off.

Hey, but all competition is good. Who are you going to put money on? Windows, Cat OS or GOS]]>Jul 8th 2009 1:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 8:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 1:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 1:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 1:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.labnol.org/internet/google-chrome-logo-design-inspiration/4414/

Then again it may not be.]]>Jul 8th 2009 2:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 3:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 3:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 3:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 4:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 4:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://guiltyspark.com/Guilty%20Spark.jpg]]>Jul 9th 2009 6:20AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 1:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
1) Without native x86 code support, what happens with devices? Outside of generic access drivers Google can build themselves, there's no way you'll be syncing devices that require custom drivers with web applications - especially when it comes to the hundreds of millions of iPods and iPhones out there.

2) When it all comes down to it, what are the true benefits this will bring on top of Windows 7? What good is additional speed if there's not much to do on the system with the speed with custom native applications? How big of a problem will malware really be on Windows 7? How do you get faster boot times when Sleep mode already works perfectly fine?]]>Jul 8th 2009 1:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
It just won't happen.]]>Jul 8th 2009 1:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Doesn't matter this will horribly fail, no regular user will choose this over Windows 7 (and by then windows 7 will have it's marketing and support in place). Personally I hope this fails, it can only cut into linux users (which are going to slowly dwindle if dell and others phase out the linux option for Windows 7 home as the lowest option).]]>Jul 8th 2009 2:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
The amount of money HP/Dell could save by selling "free" software with their units suddenly gets circumvented with the need for additional phone support staff. ]]>Jul 8th 2009 2:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 3:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 4:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/Jul 8th 2009 1:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/08/switched-on-with-google-this-is-not-your-fathers-os-war/
Good memories.]]>Jul 8th 2009 2:27PM