First Google Chrome OS screenshots leaked? Update: it's a fake
By Thomas Ricker 
posted July 9th 2009 4:41AM
posted July 9th 2009 4:41AM
It's not much, in fact, these screenshots are incredibly easy to fake. Still, a hastily constructed WordPress blog has been setup to host what are claimed to be the world's first screenshots of Google's new Chrome OS -- hailed as both a Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X killer or a Google FUD generator depending upon who you're listening to. As the story is told, a Google representative demonstrated a private beta build of the OS to an anonymous Acer parts supplier yesterday, presumably somewhere in Taiwan. The picture above was grabbed breathlessly while the Google rep was distracted. Highlights of the demonstration break down as follows:
[Thanks, Matthew M.]
Update: We just got another set of shots of what is purportedly the boot screen. To be honest, any of these could be faked, but we thought we'd pass along -- hopefully we'll be seeing something a bit more concrete in the coming weeks. Gallery is below.
Update 2: Mr. Chrome OS Leak himself has come forward and confirmed his "screenshots" to be fake. Thanks, buddy. No word on this other set of pics.
- The "elegant" install on the Acer Extensa 4620Z laptop took about 10 minutes and 1 restart
- Reboots desktop-to-desktop in about 25 seconds
- It was "amazingly fast" in its stripped-down beta form
- The blue orb on the auto-hiding "Chrome Bar" along the bottom of the UI is essentially the start menu
- Navigating the file system can be done in "exploration" (like Windows explorer) or "browser" (search based) modes
- The Chrome Bar can also host a search bar if configured
- Future Chrome OS netbooks will feature an iconified Chrome key on the keyboard similar to the Windows flag key
[Thanks, Matthew M.]
Update: We just got another set of shots of what is purportedly the boot screen. To be honest, any of these could be faked, but we thought we'd pass along -- hopefully we'll be seeing something a bit more concrete in the coming weeks. Gallery is below.
Update 2: Mr. Chrome OS Leak himself has come forward and confirmed his "screenshots" to be fake. Thanks, buddy. No word on this other set of pics.
Endadget, you've got to be f***ing kidding me. Are you serious?
How could you be fooled by something so painfully, obviously fake? To post something like this and then expect to maintain any credibility is simply laughable. I just can't believe it.
Engadget*, rather.
Seriously I don't understand these comments flowing in; how anyone could possibly think such a ridiculous, farcical creation is real. But the biggest atrocity here is the fact that Engadget fell for it.
yay something new to play with!
yuck, where's the leading?
Google, hire some real designers, don't be Microsoft.
Why is there no mouse? The persons at the WordPress website that wrote this made up a story and stuck a picture onto the screen of an Acer laptop, probably. Honestly, mouse fade?
Hi everyone!
I made this!
It's fake! Read the blog!
XD
And the point of it was?
I just saw the update to the post, with the "gallery"... it hurts just thinking Engadget is actually paying somebody to perpetuate this nonsense. How dumb do you think we are, anyway?
http://chromeosleak.wordpress.com/
confirmed fake by its maker
WOO HOOOOO another Linux distro!!!
Dude those pictures are fake , guy said that on his site.
Found via:
http://www.livecrunch.com/2009/07/09/nice-fake-chrome-os-screenshots-leaked/
Something like this is what I would expect to see from a company such as Google. I'm not saying it's bad or ugly or anything, but thinking about it, Google is an online presence, and has only (comparatively) recently stepped onto the desktop with the Google desktop and offline gmail. I know that some of Google's programs have been desktop-only (like Picasa, GE and Sketch-up), but when I think Google, I think about their online presence first. So to me, at least, it makes sense that they are building their OS as a desktop interface to their online web components, ie: a browser, which is what Chrome (the Browser) is, which is what Chrome OS is.
Also, I'm not commenting whether or not this is fake. (I think it is, this story kinda leads me to believe it is fake) I don't care about that. But I was just saying that I expect the real GOS to look like a browser too.
fake. The Google logo font is not right.
Looks like someone just created a wallpaper and set it as the background to OpenBox, something that could be done by anyone with about 5 minutes work.
Look at this example screenshot of OpenBox, and note the similarity of the start button to that on the "ChromeOS":
http://offload3.icculus.org:9090/openbox/mw/images/1/13/Arch-openbox-rss.jpg
This ain't news, its some lame ass hoax.
I can't tell if I am excited yet
I have a real question for them,,,,,,,,BUT!!!! Cant it RUN CRYSIS!!!!! ??????
Ah the internet press, such a quality stories and scoops.
Such fantastic journalism.
/Extreme hatefull sarcasm.
And yet the wiki page states: "Since its founding, dozens of writers have written for or contributed to Engadget, Engadget Mobile and Engadget HD, including high profile bloggers, industry analysts, and professional journalists."
Just prooving any bum could have written this
According to Google's announcement, the OS will be available later this year. They just said netbooks wouldn't be shipping with it until mid-2010. Every single tech blog I read has made this same mistake. Doesn't anybody RTFA anymore?
so it's dev OS 1.3.0? What the hell happened to 1.0.0 ... 1.1.0... 1.2.0 or you know 1.0.1? Are they just going to release the OS as a 2.0. The dude that faked this didn't think about it at all. I could have done a better job without trying.
the "Google Chrome OS"
is actually called "Cloud" and is for Netbooks,
there is a form you can fill out to be a BETA tester for the OS,
when the OS starts it boots straight into Chrome and has a Dock like Mac OS X
also you can boot into Windows.
the Official Site is http://thinkgos.com/cloud
i used "gOS" which is somewhat like "Cloud" but foe Desktops / Laptops and is based on Ubuntu 8.04.
You realize, that's actually made by a different company, right?
The other shots are fake too. Easy to tell.
Whoever made them in photoshop/illustrator/fireworks/whatever didn't even take the time to switch the colors on the loading bar to make it look like it was moving in the different pictures.
The first dot is red in all the shots. If the OS is at all speedy, I doubt the first dot stayed red long enough for this guy to snap 3 pictures of it.
All he had to do was switch the red dot with one of the blue ones and he may've had me fooled. Too bad; better luck next time!
That Google would go after this new business surprises only those that don't understand Google. Industrial-era thinkers believe you should "stick to your focus". Like GM. But Google knows that in an information economy if you don't keep moving into new markets with new technologies looking for more revenues you won't survive. Read more at http://www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com
As an OS Developer, this ( http://googlechromeos09.wordpress.com/ ) appears to be real. The guy alo claims to be an employee, and the UI is realistic.
can i play fifa online on this chrome os?
Is this the first real google chrome os leaked screenshots? http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/1778/chromeos1.jpg
I have used google chrome browser which was 100 times better than internet explorer and now I cant wait to see
chrome OS. I am sure chrome OS is going to take over the market. more over it seems that they are releasing it
as a open-source. Google is wow.. woow.. and woow
Amarjit Singh Kullar
www.amarjitsinghkullar.com