18 ms·

Chrome Enterprise

418 points by pgrote 9y ago

frik 9y ago
Please change the title to "Chrome OS Enterprise" - it's not Chrome browser enterprise.
- zwerdlds 9y ago
  Unfortunately, the title is correct. The product being launched here is called "Chrome Enterprise". I'm slowly losing my sanity between this and the .Net Core.
  - seanp2k2 9y ago
    Whoever does branding at Google must have no idea how this stuff seems to average people who don't work at Google. They dropped the "Nexus" branding that likely cost tens of millions+ to build. They called their next phone the "Pixel" after they had a laptop called the "Pixel". They did "Chrome OS" despite the browser also being called "Chrome". "Fuchsia" is their other other OS but that's a pretty opaque name. Is it really that hard to come up with any other random nonsense word for this stuff that doesn't make people think it's a different product? Why do they keep doing this? It doesn't help that their other stuff has names like "home", "now", "material", etc. It's like reductive minimalism to the point of meaninglessness. They might as well just name all their stuff with GUIDs.
    - robin_reala 9y ago
      You missed out the Pixel tablet that started life as a Chrome OS machine and turned into an Android one.
    - Entangled 9y ago
      Agree. It should be called Android Enterprise and take the whole OS world by storm with Android everywhere.
    - rifung 9y ago
      > Whoever does branding at Google must have no idea how this stuff seems to average people who don't work at Google. Well I work at Google and I was also confused so I don't think working at Google qualifies you to understand the names
      - chris_wot 9y ago
        I just did a Google search using the keywords "Google Enterprise" and the first result was to here: https://enterprise.google.com/intl/en_au/chrome/chrome-browser/ https://enterprise.google.com/intl/en_au/chrome/chrome-brows...
pducks32 9y ago
I thought this was a special version of Chrome the browser and I think many people will too. Especially someone like my brother who works at a corporation. If they told him they’re switching to Chrome Enterprise he’d be a tad confused. Side Note: the reading experience on this blog is one of the best I’ve seen on mobile. Love the text size though the header animation was not the smoothest. Nonetheless great job.
- BinaryIdiot 9y ago
  This was my thinking as well. I expected "Chrome OS Enterprise" not "Chrome Enterprise" to represent Chrome OS in the enterprise. It's a confusing set of naming conventions.
  - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
    Especially since when you download the Chrome Browser for Business MSI file, it's "chromestandaloneenterprise.msi", leading some distribution platforms to simply call it "Chrome Enterprise".
    - tyingq 9y ago
      Paid support for "Chrome Browser for Business" is called "CHROME ENTERPRISE SUPPORT" too. Argh. "Enterprise Support Agreements for Chrome Google now offers phone and email support for Chrome, including help with deployment, management, configuration and more...LEARN ABOUT CHROME ENTERPRISE SUPPORT" Also see: https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6351685?hl=en https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6351685?hl=en
      - drez 9y ago
        How can they not see this as incredibly confusing? I'm constantly surprised by Google's poor naming and branding choices.
        tyingq 9y ago
gangstead 9y ago
I don't believe the checkmark indicating "Cloud & Native Print" support on Chrome OS. I've got two Chromebooks and have used Chromeboxes at work and have never gotten printing to work reliably.
SingletonIface 9y ago
Oh look, it's Google Ultron! Nope, guess it's not :(
ben174 9y ago
I've been seeing IT become increasingly frustrated at their inability to lock down the security on MacOS to the level they'd hoped. Wouldn't be surprised to see silicon valley startups issue Chromebooks out as the default in 3-4 years time. Especially if Google gets this right.
- pducks32 9y ago
  You asked about Silicon Valley startups and I work at one. I genuinely don’t think that today I could use a Chromebook to do any level of my work. I have used one in the past (though not for programming) and even that was miserable.
  - yebyen 9y ago
    I don't know what your perception is, or how you were using it... and I don't actually do this on a daily basis, but I think if what you did was using crosh in a browser tab, there is a much better experience on ChromeOS to be had. I used crouton with X11 and it was IMHO decidedly serviceable. I could not get used to using a shell in a browser tab; it was just too easy to accidentally lose my work by pressing ctrl+W. But I have been a desktop linux user for ~20 years until switching to MacOS last year, when I got a new job and inherited my predecessor's Macbook Pro. So, getting E17 started, even with no GL acceleration, was really quite OK for me. (But as a desktop linux user, I'm sure I'm probably on a short list who would be ok with that... you might be too, I don't know how you were using it or what your background is.) If I had something better than a 2012-model Samsung XE303C12 (anything but an ARM-based chromebook, I guess) something with an intel CPU that has Haswell chipset or Bay Trail, or i915 video, or the Chromebook Pixel line, or... I think it would be even better (with supported graphics acceleration, I mean.) What were your issues/how far did you get, if you don't mind my asking?
    - Jesus_Jones 9y ago
      theres an option on how to open the window where control-w doesn't kill your window, you can use it as you want. it was obscure and hard to find.
pat2man 9y ago
This is probably the perfect OS for any shared terminal: libraries, internet cafes, etc. You don't need native apps, just a locked down browser that can keep your settings and bookmarks across devices.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
niftich 9y ago
Notwithstanding the Active Directory integration, this is the clearest shot across the bow of Microsoft's on-prem management suite yet. The naming is puzzling. But I'm sure MS shops are used to weird names, and aren't likely to get pedantic about whether or not there should be an "OS" in there. They likely went with the simpler name to build on mindshare among decision-makers, and to intentionally muddy the waters to their benefit.
trequartista 9y ago
While there is Google Play Integration, there is no word on how they plan to integrate the corporate intranet - which is littered with thousands of custom applications ranging from payroll to HR to ticket and incident management.
- cicero 9y ago
  Is there a remote desktop to a virtual PC capability with this?
  - mtzaldo 9y ago
    You can use the Remote Desktop Android app from Microsoft. You can also use the Chrome Remote Desktop.
- shimon 9y ago
  Aren't most of these web-based, now that it's 2017? Serious question - surely there are some custom non-web apps but I doubt they'd have released this if they didn't see some large companies who would find it a compelling cost reduction for big swaths of their staff.
  - paulddraper 9y ago
    Do you mean Internet web based or intranet web based? Because tons of stuff is on-prem, e.g. Confluence, JIRA, Bitbucket.
- chickenbane 9y ago
  Seems pretty clear they're betting most corporate applications will be web-based, with custom managed Android apps as another front-end coming online.
killjoywashere 9y ago
David was working on the smart card authentication system for ChromeOS not too long ago. Glad to see this maturing.
sandGorgon 9y ago
This is obviously Android Enterprise. the killer feature is obviously the Play Store - does anyone know if apps like Skype for Android work properly from the play store? Including video and audio ? What about things like Duo and Allo ?
- Numberwang 9y ago
  Skype is completely broken on normal android. Not sure why you'd expect it to work anywhere else. And who are you talking with on duo a d Allo??
twotwotwo 9y ago
One of my annoyances on consumer Chrome OS is that the built-in VPN support is tricky. There's a JSON format, ONC (https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/components/onc/docs/onc_spec.md https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/comp...), that maps to OpenVPN options. When I last used it the documentation was a bit tricky though it may have improved, I couldn't find ONC equivalents for some of my .ovpn options, and, most frustratingly, there was very little specific feedback if you try to import a configuration that isn't right. Because of all that I wonder if it was developed so Google could support specific large customers' VPNs (think school districts or companies) and its public availability was mostly an afterthought. If you leave the GUI, you can also run openvpn yourself on a good old .ovpn file, but you lose some of the nice security properties you get with the default Chrome OS setup, you have to do cros-specific hacks to make it work (https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton/issues/2215#issuecomment-162231565 https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton/issues/2215#issuecommen... plus switching back and forth between VPN and non-VPN DNS by hand), and last I checked it made ARC (Play Store) apps' networking stop working. I would consider paying a premium just to get my Chromebook connecting to work's VPN smoothly, though of course I'd love it if improved VPN functionality were available to everyone by default. At some point I'm probably also going to take a second look at the latest ONC docs. It looks like they've improved since I first looked at VPN setup a while back.
- corybrown 9y ago
  What about non-OpenVPN? Any good option that works well with Chromebook?
  - massar 9y ago
    As there is a Linux kernel underneath, basically anything could in theory work; but non-standard options require 'developer mode' operation which kinda destroys the security model of ChromeOS. Android apps (on some models of the laptops) might work though. Having support for Wireguard would be pretty neat, but afaik not possible yet. OpenVPN works quite fine for my use cases up to now.
  - twotwotwo 9y ago
tbyehl 9y ago
Is this just a re-branding of "Chrome device management"? I wish they'd come up with something Family-oriented. I've got my mom, girlfriend, and girlfriend's children all using low-end Chromebooks / Chromebases as their primary computers, and I'm using one for about 80% of my computing. Chrome device management would be useful for us but $50/year per device plus needing to buy G.suite per user is a bit much.
- slackoverflower 9y ago
  This is targeted at the enterprise like the product name says. $50/device for a huge corporation this product is for is just a dot on the balance sheet. For Google, charging consumers for products is just a fraction of the money they make showing ads to consumers.
- neil_s 9y ago
  I'm curious, what would you use device management tools for? They auto-update, so it's not that, and they don't hold much local software (other than Android apps). It seems like a small enough number of devices that it's fast enough to run one-off tasks on each of them manually.
  - tbyehl 9y ago
    By their nature there really isn't much one-off stuff to be done. We've got the kids on Supervised (local-ish) accounts which lets us monitor their browsing habits and enforce SafeSearch but that's about it. The glaring hole is that they can't install Apps / Extensions and there's no way for us to do that on their behalf.
Multicomp 9y ago
$50 bucks per device per year? For what, extra management frameworks on a chromebox? What a bargain /s
- arthurfm 9y ago
  Google also have a perpetual Chrome Enterprise license that costs $150 per device. [1] For education and non-profits the same license is $30. [2] $50/device/year does seem like a lot of money especially when Google expect a device will last 6.5 years. [3][4] Surely lowering the cost of the business licenses even further would increase Chrome OS adoption significantly? [1] https://shop.promevo.com/index.php/google-cloud/software/manage/google-chrome-management-console-business-perpetual-license.html https://shop.promevo.com/index.php/google-cloud/software/man... [2] https://shop.promevo.com/index.php/google-for-education/software/manage/management-console-education.html https://shop.promevo.com/index.php/google-for-education/soft... [3] https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en [4] https://chromeunboxed.com/googles-end-of-life-policy-for-chromebooks-gets-updated/ https://chromeunboxed.com/googles-end-of-life-policy-for-chr...
  - askvictor 9y ago
    6.5 years might be the support time frame, but with the build quality of most of these devices, 3 or 4 is more realistic. The higher end will certainly last longer, but I also suspect that those with the money to afford them will also update more frequently.
- jdietrich 9y ago
  For enterprise customers, $50/seat/year is a rounding error.
MBlume 9y ago
I would really like to have a computer for use at work where my IT department could feel like they had assurance that it was secure/virus free/malware free but from which I could sign into my personal accounts without feeling like I'm opening them to my IT department. Right now I just carry two laptops in my bag and it's really annoying. Wondering if Chrome Enterprise will enable this sort of thing.
- jamesmishra 9y ago
  Well, they could enable this sort of thing, but why would your IT department want that feature?
  - MBlume 9y ago
    Because they're... not assholes? I think we've worked for different sorts of companies.
    - WillPostForFood 9y ago
      IT departments tend to exist in two states: pre-a-hole, and a-hole. The state transition is triggered by some screw up that may or may not be their fault but they take the blame for.
    - johnjhayes 9y ago
      So they are assholes if they don't want to spend company resources allowing you to check your personal email while at work? Yeah, you've worked for a "different sort", the kind that waste money it seems. Many places I've worked don't allow use of personal cell phones while at work, much less allowing access to personal accounts on enterprise equipment. Security is hard, adding complexity is a bad idea.
      - sergiotapia 9y ago
        Sounds like you were working for the Umbrella Corporation. Level 6 classified.
redm 9y ago
I'm hesitant to invest anymore into the Google ecosystem after reading about how account termination can happen without detail, or recourse to resolve. [1] The last thing I need is more lock-in to a Google world. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15065742 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15065742
- thegayngler 9y ago
  I actually agree with this. I'd be too concerned about if Google or a Google AI bot randomly decided to deactivate or delete my work life. As a company what recourse would you have? I'd also be concerned about losing work and trade secrets etc... Yeah no. Just no.
  - carussell 9y ago
    1. Offer a service 2. The enterprise is skittish to adopt because there's no support, so when users get locked out, they often have no recourse, which is bad for business 3. Address this—fill in the missing piece and introduce support 4. People react as if you didn't just announce you would be offering a solution to the very thing they're complaining about
    - jstewartmobile 9y ago
      yeah... if you count "enterprise" "support" as a "solution" to what they're complaining about.
      - carussell 9y ago
        The comment I'm responding to is literally about questioning how a business could be comfortable using this. What do you want me to say? Do I have the complaint wrong?
        JohnTHaller 9y ago
        It says you have 24/7 enterprise support. It doesn't say that your paid accounts will be immune to whatever process is used to shut down a Google account (including Gmail, Hangouts, Blogger, YouTube, etc) without warning or explanation.
bbarn 9y ago
I suspect Active Directory integration might make this actually have legs. Especially in the educational industry.
- askvictor 9y ago
  There is already sync from ad to g-suite, how does this significantly change things for education? Also, the education industry is already probably the biggest industry for Chromebooks i.e. it already has legs there.
hiram112 9y ago
I've always had the belief that the Microsoft juggernaut would continue its slow decline in relevance as mobile and web devices removed the need for Windows, and the improvement of apps like Google Docs, OpenOffice, etc. would eat away at Office from the other side. But I really think now we're approaching the point where their fall might happen swiftly. Chromebooks are fine for the majority of corporate users. And if they catch on, there is no need for any of the Active Directory / Azure tie-ons that MS has been hoping would pull enterprise customers towards Azure, Office 365, and all the rest. And even if Microsoft can convince customers to stay, they simply won't be able to charge the same prices they've enjoyed for decades now with the overpriced Office, Server, and Client access licenses. And once an enterprise moves away from Active Directory and Office, I don't see any benefit of using the very expensive Sharepoint, Outlook, OneDrive, and other apps that have always been overpriced, but worth it as they integrated well together and saved companies more money via lower IT costs.
- hodder 9y ago
  Most modern businesses run on MS Office. For Google to really gain market share, they need to be able to run heavily formatted MS Powerpoint slides and Excel workbooks with VBA macros with no pain for compatibility. Some small companies can currently go with Chromebooks and the Google office suite (assuming they don't share many files externally), but for big business the compatibility needs to be there to switch from MSFT. Big businesses can't afford to refactor every single spreadsheet in existence to make the switch. Currently I have 2 Excel sheets, a Word doc, and Outlook open. Excel specifically is the most difficult to port elsewhere. Backward compatibility and network effects are immense. It is great for education and siloed businesses though. Until then MSFT owns the space and can charge significant annual license fees. I dont see that changing in the next decade.
  - chris_wot 9y ago
    I'm afraid this is the reality. LibreOffice is working towards this, and I really hope Google is too... but I'm not convinced :(
jstewartmobile 9y ago
Sounds great until they shut your shit down without explanation, and all you're left with is a support number that is about as helpful as a brick wall...
- nodelessness 9y ago
  Was there any such recourse with using Google Apps or Microsoft tools?
  - jstewartmobile 9y ago
    Is the cloud the universe now?
    - s17n 9y ago
      Yes.
- askvictor 9y ago
  They offer much clearer support time-frames for enterprise products (ie things you pay for)
- ehsankia 9y ago
  I don't get how people in this thread keep comparing a paid enterprise product, to a free ad-backed product used by billions of people. The cost you pay is mostly for the 24/7 support. These are two entirely different services that can't be compared. It's near impossible to provide quality fast support to billions of people for free, especially when there are millions of fake users in the middle trying to use the exact same free systems to abuse and break the system.
  - jstewartmobile 9y ago
    I don't get how people in this thread think "paid enterprise support" means that much. In practice, it typically means having an unempowered third-party enter your problem into the robo-form instead of entering it there yourself. That, and where does it say he was using a free account? A lot of universities are on the paid google suite.
massar 9y ago
I hope they finally acknowledge the Security Bypass they have in this "Enterprise" version... where it will be even more serious https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=718831 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=718831 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=696378 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=696378 etc... It is fun to report those things to Google Project Zero and then find that people on that side obviously do not understand that security bypasses are... well... security issues. full submission reproduced below, just in case they radar-disappear the item... duping items is apparently what Project Zero does so that the items disappear from Google results... --- PREAMBLE Thank you for an amazingly solid looking ChromeOS. Happy that I picked up a nice little Acer CB3-111, thought about plonking GalliumOS/QubesOS or heck OpenBSD on it, but with the TPM model and the disk wiping, not going to. Just wanted to note this discovery so that you are aware of it and hopefully can address the problem as it would improve the status quo. Keep up the good work! Greets, Jeroen Massar <jeroen@massar.ch> VULNERABILITY DETAILS By disabling Wireless on the login screen, or just not being connected, only a username and password are required to login to ChromeOS instead of the otherwise normally required 2FA token. This design might be because some of the "Second Factors" (SMS/Voice) rely on network connectivity to work and/or token details not being cached locally? But for FIDO U2F (eg Yubikeys aka "Security Key"[1]) and TOTP no connectivity is technically needed (outside of a reasonable time-sync). The ChromeOS host must have cached the authentication tokens/details though to know that they exist. The article at [2] even mentions "No connection, no problem... It even works when your device has no phone or data connectivity." [1] https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6103523?hl=en https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6103523?hl=en [2] https://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/2step/features.html https://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/2step/features.html VERSION Chrome Version: 59.0.3071.35 dev Operating System: ChromeOS 9460.23.0 (Official Build) dev-channel gnawty Blink 537.36 V8 5.9.211.16 REPRODUCTION CASE First the normal edition: - Take a ChromeOS based Chromebook (tested with version mentioned above) - Have a "Security Key" (eg Yubikeo NEO etc) enabled on the Google Account as one of the 2FA methods. - Have Wireless enabled - Login with username, then enter password, then answer the FIDO U2F ("Security Key") token challenge All good as it should be. Now the bad edition: - Logout & shutdown the machine - Turn it on - Disconnect the wireless from the menu (or just make connectivity otherwise unavailable) - Login with username, then password - Do NOT get a question about Second Factors, just see a ~5 second "Please wait..." that disappears - Voila, logged in. That is BAD, as you just logged in without 2FA while that is configured on the account. Now the extra fun part: - Turn on wireless - Login to Gmail/GooglePlus etc, and all your credentials are there, as that machine is trusted and cookies etc are cached. And just in case (we are now 'online' / wireless is active): - Logout (no shutdown/reboot) - Login with username, password.... and indeed asks for 2FA now. Thus showing that toggling wireless affects the requirement for 2FA.... and that is bad. EXPECTED SITUATION - Being asked for a Second Factor even though one is not "online". As now you are walking through say an airport with no connectivity, and even with the token at home, just the username and password would be sufficient to login. SIDE NOTE For the Google Account (jeroen@massar.ch) I have configured: - "strong" password and as Second Factors: - FIDO U2F: Two separate Yubikeys configured - TOTP ("Google Authenticator") configured - SMS/Voice verification to cellphone - Backupcodes on a piece of paper in a secure place. Normally, when connected to The Internet(tm), one will need username(email), password and one of the Second Factors. But disconnect and none of the Second Factors are needed anymore. SIDE NOTE2 The Google Account password changer considers "GoogleChrome" a "strong" password.... might want to check against a dictionary that such simple things cannot be used, especially as 2FA can be bypassed that easily.....
booleandilemma 9y ago
I assumed this was an enterprise version of Chrome, with the main difference being it doesn't auto update, thus being more friendly to the IT departments who administer a company's computers.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  I think those days are gone. Firefox, Chrome, Vivaldi and Edge all do continual rapid releases with ever increasing version numbers. I think only Safari is the only major browser left that doesn't.
solatic 9y ago
Lots of enterprises out there with many users who need nothing more than a web browser, email, light word processing and maybe slideshow software. Active Directory integration makes the migration possible. Chrome OS provides it all in a way which dramatically reduces maintenance costs compared to Windows. If Google starts showing some reduced TCO figures, they'll start to pull a lot of converts.
- cat199 9y ago
  Can't believe I'm writing a post to support MSFT of all people, but really, you can get a pretty low maintenance windows install these days - see the ASUS 'winbooks' & note that msft offers cloud based AD & office..
- ChiliDogSwirl 9y ago
  So have enterprise Linux distros, for at least a decade now. People still use Windows.
  - bbarn 9y ago
    Because Linux still isn't ready to roll out for the average enterprise office user. My mother, father, wife, and sister all have higher ed degrees and fruitful careers and can't realistically use a linux machine - even today. Linux' open nature has been it's greatest achievement, and it's worst enemy. Lack of commonality or agreement on package sources, etc., has led to an ecosystem that's all but inaccessible to the Real World. I love it myself, but until you can walk into a Best Buy and a quarter of the options are Linux machines that the sales people can show off as well as the mac airs and surfaces, it's going to stay for people like me. And that's just the home world. Trying to bring business into it? Unless your staff is purely development oriented, you now have to retrain every one of them (and probably most of the developers). Linux for wide spread average business user use is a non starter.
    - dx034 9y ago
      I work in Tech and can work well with Linux shell but still use Windows as my main OS. I've tried various Desktop environments, none was as nice and productive as working with Windows for me. I still try it every year but so far I've always gone back after not more than a week. And Excel remains very powerful for quick data analysis, quicker than python tools for most one-time work. I think that Linux will become more successful where people don't interact closely with the OS (Phones, Kiosks, simple terminals) but Windows will remain dominant on most computers.
Havoc 9y ago
A big chunk of business is dead in the water without Excel (and to a lesser extent Word/Powerpoint). And no don't tell me google sheets. Great for sharing data...ultra crap for data manipulation.
- jjcm 9y ago
  As someone who doesn't use either, what are the big features you see missing in Google Sheets?
  - jessaustin 9y ago
    FYI I've found that e.g. pivot tables work fine in Sheets. I also prefer some of the UI details.
  - wilde 9y ago
    GSheets still can't scale up to the larger models our Finance team builds.
    - foxylad 9y ago
      I'm sure that's true. But for 90% of organisational users, Sheets will handle everything they need. Plus do intuitive sharing, automatic backups, and all the other advantages the cloud provides... for far less TCO than a traditional PC. Browser-based apps will always be far less powerful than native OS apps, and any sensible company will provide beefy machines for their engineers, finance team, graphic designers etc. And browsers for everyone else.
  - Havoc 9y ago
    It's not so much big features but rather an accumulation of small things missing that basically kills it for a power user. The biggest issue for me is lack of keyboard shortcuts. If you use Excel a lot and have all the shortcut keys in muscle memory you can do things at speeds fast approaching magic. There are literally offices where first person to use the mouse during the day buys beers after work. There is also random sht missing that matters to me but apparently not to some dude at google HQ. Like the ability to remove duplicates from a list. Don't get me wrong - google sheets is great. It's just not a replacement for something that has been tweaked to perfection over years. MS is going to get killed on multiple fronts in the coming years. Excel is not one of them. Nothing is even close.
darkr 9y ago
> According to Ed Higgs, Interim Director of Global Service Delivery for Group IT at Rentokil: “With over 500 Chromebooks in use in our organization, Chrome now forms part of our standard offering within Rentokil Initial." 500? Do you even lift bro?
devrandomguy 9y ago
On a related note, does anyone know how to bury a dead corporate user account? The company that gave it to me doesn't even exist anymore, but Google keeps insisting that "account action is required". The company terminated my login shortly before imploding, and I lost the associated phone number when I fled the country, so there is no way that I can get back in to shut it down myself. I suppose I will eventually just buy a new phone in a few years, but I'm not thrilled about all that private work / business data that is sitting in limbo.
- demarq 9y ago
  you can't leave us hanging like that. sounds like there is a wild story to be told!!
  - devrandomguy 9y ago
    I have all kinds of theories about what actually happened. All I really know for sure, is that a bunch of wild accusations were thrown around at the execs by a small clique of powerful investors, with new accusations being generated as old ones failed to stick. Then the execs were fired for unmentioned reasons and sworn to silence, with the threat that no employees would be paid if anyone broke silence or failed to follow the orders of the interim CEO (total stranger). This all happened over a single weekend. Considering that we were in a monarchy, and some of investors were royalty, I took that as my cue to get the F out of Dodge before my passport got locked. It took me a while to recover from the stress and the trauma; not knowing what ever happened makes it hard to put it behind me. Even now, I am afraid to share too much detail, because I am unsure of how that would affect the people who remained in the country. Always have an emergency exit ready to go; $5K in cash will get you across most borders, if you play your cards right.
open-source-ux 9y ago
Not a popular opinion here I know, but I'll say it anyway. Not a single word in that blog post about privacy. Chrome OS is already widely used in US schools (and tracks student online activities), now we have a 'business-friendly' version of Chrome OS. What kind of analytics does a cloud OS like this record? What does Google do with that data? Even if that data is 'anonymised' (a pretty meaningless term nowadays), in aggregated form that gives Google staggering quantities of data that they can mine for the future. Why did Google not even mention the word privacy once in that blog?
- catdog 9y ago
  Simple, there is no privacy in the cloud and nobody seems to care.
  - jessaustin 9y ago
    If the companies that serve the cloud provided all the privacy they possibly could, would we then actually have privacy? That is, would NSA not be able to refer random communication to the parallel construction department for prosecution? The chain of privacy will only ever be as strong as its weakest link.
- klondike_ 9y ago
  There are very strict laws about using children's data, so I'd assume that the data collecting is kept to a minimum for Chromebooks in schools
  - djsumdog 9y ago
    Are there? What specific laws? Even with such laws, I'm sure Google's legal team has picked through them to harvest the most amount of data possible from those students. Just today I was thinking about high traffic areas in Waze and Google Maps. Sure they're going to use traffic cameras and municipal reporting services if they exist, but you have to wonder to what extent they're using location data from all those phones not currently running a navigation app.
demarq 9y ago
That is a very compelling price point.
- bluetwo 9y ago
  I thought there would be more discussion on this as well. Think it is interesting and doable. Some may complain it is too much, but if it really does what it says it may be worth it.
chaudhary27 9y ago
I don't like to lock into Google ecosystem at work but I also hate some Microsoft services at work.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  You can run the Microsoft services locally if you wanted to. People hosted AD/Exchange for years before these new hosted services came along. Even when people outsource Exchange, they often still hosts their AD internally.
bedhead 9y ago
Sounds great until you realize that their "Hate Algorithm" or whatever will end up erroneously shutting down your computer one day.
jaypaulynice 9y ago
$50/device?? With that said, I suspect Facebook is working on a browser...that could compete well with Chrome...any reason why Facebook hasn't developed a browser?
manbearpigg 9y ago
I have kept away from Google since they started promoting their alt-left political agenda. Just software for me, thanks. At least I found a new appreciation for the open source movement.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
morpheus88 9y ago
Created a throwaway for this. But Google has a reputation for shutting you down without resort to any recourse and I can attest to this personally. Hope I'm not off topic, but I had a successful Android App which was taken down from the Playstore because I used a single keyword that was copyright, but it was really essential for this app and I had provided context for using the keyword. It was a free app anyway and I was making no money from it (no ads either). Anyway, they removed my app from the store and I had no way to get it back up- all my ratings, downloads, reviews were lost. The point here is that they didn't give me a chance to defend myself- one strike, and you're out and never coming back again. Imagine enterprises using Google products with this sort of an attitude.
mnd999 9y ago
Is it April 1 already?
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jdauriemma 9y ago
Random observation: the font-background contrast ratio in this post makes it very hard to read comfortably.

Chrome Enterprise

418 points by pgrote 9y ago

frik 9y ago

Please change the title to "Chrome OS Enterprise" - it's not Chrome browser enterprise.

zwerdlds 9y ago
Unfortunately, the title is correct. The product being launched here is called "Chrome Enterprise". I'm slowly losing my sanity between this and the .Net Core.
- seanp2k2 9y ago
  Whoever does branding at Google must have no idea how this stuff seems to average people who don't work at Google. They dropped the "Nexus" branding that likely cost tens of millions+ to build. They called their next phone the "Pixel" after they had a laptop called the "Pixel". They did "Chrome OS" despite the browser also being called "Chrome". "Fuchsia" is their other other OS but that's a pretty opaque name. Is it really that hard to come up with any other random nonsense word for this stuff that doesn't make people think it's a different product? Why do they keep doing this? It doesn't help that their other stuff has names like "home", "now", "material", etc. It's like reductive minimalism to the point of meaninglessness. They might as well just name all their stuff with GUIDs.
  - robin_reala 9y ago
    You missed out the Pixel tablet that started life as a Chrome OS machine and turned into an Android one.
  - Entangled 9y ago
    Agree. It should be called Android Enterprise and take the whole OS world by storm with Android everywhere.
  - rifung 9y ago
    > Whoever does branding at Google must have no idea how this stuff seems to average people who don't work at Google. Well I work at Google and I was also confused so I don't think working at Google qualifies you to understand the names
    - chris_wot 9y ago
      I just did a Google search using the keywords "Google Enterprise" and the first result was to here: https://enterprise.google.com/intl/en_au/chrome/chrome-browser/ https://enterprise.google.com/intl/en_au/chrome/chrome-brows...

pducks32 9y ago

I thought this was a special version of Chrome the browser and I think many people will too. Especially someone like my brother who works at a corporation. If they told him they’re switching to Chrome Enterprise he’d be a tad confused. Side Note: the reading experience on this blog is one of the best I’ve seen on mobile. Love the text size though the header animation was not the smoothest. Nonetheless great job.

BinaryIdiot 9y ago
This was my thinking as well. I expected "Chrome OS Enterprise" not "Chrome Enterprise" to represent Chrome OS in the enterprise. It's a confusing set of naming conventions.
- ocdtrekkie 9y ago
  Especially since when you download the Chrome Browser for Business MSI file, it's "chromestandaloneenterprise.msi", leading some distribution platforms to simply call it "Chrome Enterprise".
  - tyingq 9y ago
    Paid support for "Chrome Browser for Business" is called "CHROME ENTERPRISE SUPPORT" too. Argh. "Enterprise Support Agreements for Chrome Google now offers phone and email support for Chrome, including help with deployment, management, configuration and more...LEARN ABOUT CHROME ENTERPRISE SUPPORT" Also see: https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6351685?hl=en https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6351685?hl=en
    - drez 9y ago
      How can they not see this as incredibly confusing? I'm constantly surprised by Google's poor naming and branding choices.
      - tyingq 9y ago

gangstead 9y ago

I don't believe the checkmark indicating "Cloud & Native Print" support on Chrome OS. I've got two Chromebooks and have used Chromeboxes at work and have never gotten printing to work reliably.

SingletonIface 9y ago

Oh look, it's Google Ultron! Nope, guess it's not :(

ben174 9y ago

I've been seeing IT become increasingly frustrated at their inability to lock down the security on MacOS to the level they'd hoped. Wouldn't be surprised to see silicon valley startups issue Chromebooks out as the default in 3-4 years time. Especially if Google gets this right.

pducks32 9y ago
You asked about Silicon Valley startups and I work at one. I genuinely don’t think that today I could use a Chromebook to do any level of my work. I have used one in the past (though not for programming) and even that was miserable.
- yebyen 9y ago
  I don't know what your perception is, or how you were using it... and I don't actually do this on a daily basis, but I think if what you did was using crosh in a browser tab, there is a much better experience on ChromeOS to be had. I used crouton with X11 and it was IMHO decidedly serviceable. I could not get used to using a shell in a browser tab; it was just too easy to accidentally lose my work by pressing ctrl+W. But I have been a desktop linux user for ~20 years until switching to MacOS last year, when I got a new job and inherited my predecessor's Macbook Pro. So, getting E17 started, even with no GL acceleration, was really quite OK for me. (But as a desktop linux user, I'm sure I'm probably on a short list who would be ok with that... you might be too, I don't know how you were using it or what your background is.) If I had something better than a 2012-model Samsung XE303C12 (anything but an ARM-based chromebook, I guess) something with an intel CPU that has Haswell chipset or Bay Trail, or i915 video, or the Chromebook Pixel line, or... I think it would be even better (with supported graphics acceleration, I mean.) What were your issues/how far did you get, if you don't mind my asking?
  - Jesus_Jones 9y ago
    theres an option on how to open the window where control-w doesn't kill your window, you can use it as you want. it was obscure and hard to find.

pat2man 9y ago

This is probably the perfect OS for any shared terminal: libraries, internet cafes, etc. You don't need native apps, just a locked down browser that can keep your settings and bookmarks across devices.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

niftich 9y ago

Notwithstanding the Active Directory integration, this is the clearest shot across the bow of Microsoft's on-prem management suite yet. The naming is puzzling. But I'm sure MS shops are used to weird names, and aren't likely to get pedantic about whether or not there should be an "OS" in there. They likely went with the simpler name to build on mindshare among decision-makers, and to intentionally muddy the waters to their benefit.

trequartista 9y ago

While there is Google Play Integration, there is no word on how they plan to integrate the corporate intranet - which is littered with thousands of custom applications ranging from payroll to HR to ticket and incident management.

cicero 9y ago
Is there a remote desktop to a virtual PC capability with this?
- mtzaldo 9y ago
  You can use the Remote Desktop Android app from Microsoft. You can also use the Chrome Remote Desktop.
shimon 9y ago
Aren't most of these web-based, now that it's 2017? Serious question - surely there are some custom non-web apps but I doubt they'd have released this if they didn't see some large companies who would find it a compelling cost reduction for big swaths of their staff.
- paulddraper 9y ago
  Do you mean Internet web based or intranet web based? Because tons of stuff is on-prem, e.g. Confluence, JIRA, Bitbucket.
chickenbane 9y ago
Seems pretty clear they're betting most corporate applications will be web-based, with custom managed Android apps as another front-end coming online.

killjoywashere 9y ago

David was working on the smart card authentication system for ChromeOS not too long ago. Glad to see this maturing.

sandGorgon 9y ago

This is obviously Android Enterprise. the killer feature is obviously the Play Store - does anyone know if apps like Skype for Android work properly from the play store? Including video and audio ? What about things like Duo and Allo ?

Numberwang 9y ago
Skype is completely broken on normal android. Not sure why you'd expect it to work anywhere else. And who are you talking with on duo a d Allo??

twotwotwo 9y ago

One of my annoyances on consumer Chrome OS is that the built-in VPN support is tricky. There's a JSON format, ONC (https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/components/onc/docs/onc_spec.md https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/comp...), that maps to OpenVPN options. When I last used it the documentation was a bit tricky though it may have improved, I couldn't find ONC equivalents for some of my .ovpn options, and, most frustratingly, there was very little specific feedback if you try to import a configuration that isn't right. Because of all that I wonder if it was developed so Google could support specific large customers' VPNs (think school districts or companies) and its public availability was mostly an afterthought. If you leave the GUI, you can also run openvpn yourself on a good old .ovpn file, but you lose some of the nice security properties you get with the default Chrome OS setup, you have to do cros-specific hacks to make it work (https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton/issues/2215#issuecomment-162231565 https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton/issues/2215#issuecommen... plus switching back and forth between VPN and non-VPN DNS by hand), and last I checked it made ARC (Play Store) apps' networking stop working. I would consider paying a premium just to get my Chromebook connecting to work's VPN smoothly, though of course I'd love it if improved VPN functionality were available to everyone by default. At some point I'm probably also going to take a second look at the latest ONC docs. It looks like they've improved since I first looked at VPN setup a while back.

corybrown 9y ago
What about non-OpenVPN? Any good option that works well with Chromebook?
- massar 9y ago
  As there is a Linux kernel underneath, basically anything could in theory work; but non-standard options require 'developer mode' operation which kinda destroys the security model of ChromeOS. Android apps (on some models of the laptops) might work though. Having support for Wireguard would be pretty neat, but afaik not possible yet. OpenVPN works quite fine for my use cases up to now.
- twotwotwo 9y ago

tbyehl 9y ago

Is this just a re-branding of "Chrome device management"? I wish they'd come up with something Family-oriented. I've got my mom, girlfriend, and girlfriend's children all using low-end Chromebooks / Chromebases as their primary computers, and I'm using one for about 80% of my computing. Chrome device management would be useful for us but $50/year per device plus needing to buy G.suite per user is a bit much.

slackoverflower 9y ago
This is targeted at the enterprise like the product name says. $50/device for a huge corporation this product is for is just a dot on the balance sheet. For Google, charging consumers for products is just a fraction of the money they make showing ads to consumers.
neil_s 9y ago
I'm curious, what would you use device management tools for? They auto-update, so it's not that, and they don't hold much local software (other than Android apps). It seems like a small enough number of devices that it's fast enough to run one-off tasks on each of them manually.
- tbyehl 9y ago
  By their nature there really isn't much one-off stuff to be done. We've got the kids on Supervised (local-ish) accounts which lets us monitor their browsing habits and enforce SafeSearch but that's about it. The glaring hole is that they can't install Apps / Extensions and there's no way for us to do that on their behalf.

Multicomp 9y ago

$50 bucks per device per year? For what, extra management frameworks on a chromebox? What a bargain /s

arthurfm 9y ago
Google also have a perpetual Chrome Enterprise license that costs $150 per device. [1] For education and non-profits the same license is $30. [2] $50/device/year does seem like a lot of money especially when Google expect a device will last 6.5 years. [3][4] Surely lowering the cost of the business licenses even further would increase Chrome OS adoption significantly? [1] https://shop.promevo.com/index.php/google-cloud/software/manage/google-chrome-management-console-business-perpetual-license.html https://shop.promevo.com/index.php/google-cloud/software/man... [2] https://shop.promevo.com/index.php/google-for-education/software/manage/management-console-education.html https://shop.promevo.com/index.php/google-for-education/soft... [3] https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en [4] https://chromeunboxed.com/googles-end-of-life-policy-for-chromebooks-gets-updated/ https://chromeunboxed.com/googles-end-of-life-policy-for-chr...
- askvictor 9y ago
  6.5 years might be the support time frame, but with the build quality of most of these devices, 3 or 4 is more realistic. The higher end will certainly last longer, but I also suspect that those with the money to afford them will also update more frequently.
jdietrich 9y ago
For enterprise customers, $50/seat/year is a rounding error.

MBlume 9y ago

I would really like to have a computer for use at work where my IT department could feel like they had assurance that it was secure/virus free/malware free but from which I could sign into my personal accounts without feeling like I'm opening them to my IT department. Right now I just carry two laptops in my bag and it's really annoying. Wondering if Chrome Enterprise will enable this sort of thing.

jamesmishra 9y ago
Well, they could enable this sort of thing, but why would your IT department want that feature?
- MBlume 9y ago
  Because they're... not assholes? I think we've worked for different sorts of companies.
  - WillPostForFood 9y ago
    IT departments tend to exist in two states: pre-a-hole, and a-hole. The state transition is triggered by some screw up that may or may not be their fault but they take the blame for.
  - johnjhayes 9y ago
    So they are assholes if they don't want to spend company resources allowing you to check your personal email while at work? Yeah, you've worked for a "different sort", the kind that waste money it seems. Many places I've worked don't allow use of personal cell phones while at work, much less allowing access to personal accounts on enterprise equipment. Security is hard, adding complexity is a bad idea.
    - sergiotapia 9y ago
      Sounds like you were working for the Umbrella Corporation. Level 6 classified.

redm 9y ago

I'm hesitant to invest anymore into the Google ecosystem after reading about how account termination can happen without detail, or recourse to resolve. [1] The last thing I need is more lock-in to a Google world. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15065742 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15065742

thegayngler 9y ago
I actually agree with this. I'd be too concerned about if Google or a Google AI bot randomly decided to deactivate or delete my work life. As a company what recourse would you have? I'd also be concerned about losing work and trade secrets etc... Yeah no. Just no.
- carussell 9y ago
  1. Offer a service 2. The enterprise is skittish to adopt because there's no support, so when users get locked out, they often have no recourse, which is bad for business 3. Address this—fill in the missing piece and introduce support 4. People react as if you didn't just announce you would be offering a solution to the very thing they're complaining about
  - jstewartmobile 9y ago
    yeah... if you count "enterprise" "support" as a "solution" to what they're complaining about.
    - carussell 9y ago
      The comment I'm responding to is literally about questioning how a business could be comfortable using this. What do you want me to say? Do I have the complaint wrong?
      - JohnTHaller 9y ago
        It says you have 24/7 enterprise support. It doesn't say that your paid accounts will be immune to whatever process is used to shut down a Google account (including Gmail, Hangouts, Blogger, YouTube, etc) without warning or explanation.

bbarn 9y ago

I suspect Active Directory integration might make this actually have legs. Especially in the educational industry.

askvictor 9y ago
There is already sync from ad to g-suite, how does this significantly change things for education? Also, the education industry is already probably the biggest industry for Chromebooks i.e. it already has legs there.

hiram112 9y ago

I've always had the belief that the Microsoft juggernaut would continue its slow decline in relevance as mobile and web devices removed the need for Windows, and the improvement of apps like Google Docs, OpenOffice, etc. would eat away at Office from the other side. But I really think now we're approaching the point where their fall might happen swiftly. Chromebooks are fine for the majority of corporate users. And if they catch on, there is no need for any of the Active Directory / Azure tie-ons that MS has been hoping would pull enterprise customers towards Azure, Office 365, and all the rest. And even if Microsoft can convince customers to stay, they simply won't be able to charge the same prices they've enjoyed for decades now with the overpriced Office, Server, and Client access licenses. And once an enterprise moves away from Active Directory and Office, I don't see any benefit of using the very expensive Sharepoint, Outlook, OneDrive, and other apps that have always been overpriced, but worth it as they integrated well together and saved companies more money via lower IT costs.

hodder 9y ago
Most modern businesses run on MS Office. For Google to really gain market share, they need to be able to run heavily formatted MS Powerpoint slides and Excel workbooks with VBA macros with no pain for compatibility. Some small companies can currently go with Chromebooks and the Google office suite (assuming they don't share many files externally), but for big business the compatibility needs to be there to switch from MSFT. Big businesses can't afford to refactor every single spreadsheet in existence to make the switch. Currently I have 2 Excel sheets, a Word doc, and Outlook open. Excel specifically is the most difficult to port elsewhere. Backward compatibility and network effects are immense. It is great for education and siloed businesses though. Until then MSFT owns the space and can charge significant annual license fees. I dont see that changing in the next decade.
- chris_wot 9y ago
  I'm afraid this is the reality. LibreOffice is working towards this, and I really hope Google is too... but I'm not convinced :(

jstewartmobile 9y ago

Sounds great until they shut your shit down without explanation, and all you're left with is a support number that is about as helpful as a brick wall...

nodelessness 9y ago
Was there any such recourse with using Google Apps or Microsoft tools?
- jstewartmobile 9y ago
  Is the cloud the universe now?
  - s17n 9y ago
    Yes.
askvictor 9y ago
They offer much clearer support time-frames for enterprise products (ie things you pay for)
ehsankia 9y ago
I don't get how people in this thread keep comparing a paid enterprise product, to a free ad-backed product used by billions of people. The cost you pay is mostly for the 24/7 support. These are two entirely different services that can't be compared. It's near impossible to provide quality fast support to billions of people for free, especially when there are millions of fake users in the middle trying to use the exact same free systems to abuse and break the system.
- jstewartmobile 9y ago
  I don't get how people in this thread think "paid enterprise support" means that much. In practice, it typically means having an unempowered third-party enter your problem into the robo-form instead of entering it there yourself. That, and where does it say he was using a free account? A lot of universities are on the paid google suite.

massar 9y ago

I hope they finally acknowledge the Security Bypass they have in this "Enterprise" version... where it will be even more serious https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=718831 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=718831 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=696378 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=696378 etc... It is fun to report those things to Google Project Zero and then find that people on that side obviously do not understand that security bypasses are... well... security issues. full submission reproduced below, just in case they radar-disappear the item... duping items is apparently what Project Zero does so that the items disappear from Google results... --- PREAMBLE Thank you for an amazingly solid looking ChromeOS. Happy that I picked up a nice little Acer CB3-111, thought about plonking GalliumOS/QubesOS or heck OpenBSD on it, but with the TPM model and the disk wiping, not going to. Just wanted to note this discovery so that you are aware of it and hopefully can address the problem as it would improve the status quo. Keep up the good work! Greets, Jeroen Massar <jeroen@massar.ch> VULNERABILITY DETAILS By disabling Wireless on the login screen, or just not being connected, only a username and password are required to login to ChromeOS instead of the otherwise normally required 2FA token. This design might be because some of the "Second Factors" (SMS/Voice) rely on network connectivity to work and/or token details not being cached locally? But for FIDO U2F (eg Yubikeys aka "Security Key"[1]) and TOTP no connectivity is technically needed (outside of a reasonable time-sync). The ChromeOS host must have cached the authentication tokens/details though to know that they exist. The article at [2] even mentions "No connection, no problem... It even works when your device has no phone or data connectivity." [1] https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6103523?hl=en https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6103523?hl=en [2] https://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/2step/features.html https://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/2step/features.html VERSION Chrome Version: 59.0.3071.35 dev Operating System: ChromeOS 9460.23.0 (Official Build) dev-channel gnawty Blink 537.36 V8 5.9.211.16 REPRODUCTION CASE First the normal edition: - Take a ChromeOS based Chromebook (tested with version mentioned above) - Have a "Security Key" (eg Yubikeo NEO etc) enabled on the Google Account as one of the 2FA methods. - Have Wireless enabled - Login with username, then enter password, then answer the FIDO U2F ("Security Key") token challenge All good as it should be. Now the bad edition: - Logout & shutdown the machine - Turn it on - Disconnect the wireless from the menu (or just make connectivity otherwise unavailable) - Login with username, then password - Do NOT get a question about Second Factors, just see a ~5 second "Please wait..." that disappears - Voila, logged in. That is BAD, as you just logged in without 2FA while that is configured on the account. Now the extra fun part: - Turn on wireless - Login to Gmail/GooglePlus etc, and all your credentials are there, as that machine is trusted and cookies etc are cached. And just in case (we are now 'online' / wireless is active): - Logout (no shutdown/reboot) - Login with username, password.... and indeed asks for 2FA now. Thus showing that toggling wireless affects the requirement for 2FA.... and that is bad. EXPECTED SITUATION - Being asked for a Second Factor even though one is not "online". As now you are walking through say an airport with no connectivity, and even with the token at home, just the username and password would be sufficient to login. SIDE NOTE For the Google Account (jeroen@massar.ch) I have configured: - "strong" password and as Second Factors: - FIDO U2F: Two separate Yubikeys configured - TOTP ("Google Authenticator") configured - SMS/Voice verification to cellphone - Backupcodes on a piece of paper in a secure place. Normally, when connected to The Internet(tm), one will need username(email), password and one of the Second Factors. But disconnect and none of the Second Factors are needed anymore. SIDE NOTE2 The Google Account password changer considers "GoogleChrome" a "strong" password.... might want to check against a dictionary that such simple things cannot be used, especially as 2FA can be bypassed that easily.....

booleandilemma 9y ago

I assumed this was an enterprise version of Chrome, with the main difference being it doesn't auto update, thus being more friendly to the IT departments who administer a company's computers.

djsumdog 9y ago
I think those days are gone. Firefox, Chrome, Vivaldi and Edge all do continual rapid releases with ever increasing version numbers. I think only Safari is the only major browser left that doesn't.

solatic 9y ago

Lots of enterprises out there with many users who need nothing more than a web browser, email, light word processing and maybe slideshow software. Active Directory integration makes the migration possible. Chrome OS provides it all in a way which dramatically reduces maintenance costs compared to Windows. If Google starts showing some reduced TCO figures, they'll start to pull a lot of converts.

cat199 9y ago
Can't believe I'm writing a post to support MSFT of all people, but really, you can get a pretty low maintenance windows install these days - see the ASUS 'winbooks' & note that msft offers cloud based AD & office..
ChiliDogSwirl 9y ago
So have enterprise Linux distros, for at least a decade now. People still use Windows.
- bbarn 9y ago
  Because Linux still isn't ready to roll out for the average enterprise office user. My mother, father, wife, and sister all have higher ed degrees and fruitful careers and can't realistically use a linux machine - even today. Linux' open nature has been it's greatest achievement, and it's worst enemy. Lack of commonality or agreement on package sources, etc., has led to an ecosystem that's all but inaccessible to the Real World. I love it myself, but until you can walk into a Best Buy and a quarter of the options are Linux machines that the sales people can show off as well as the mac airs and surfaces, it's going to stay for people like me. And that's just the home world. Trying to bring business into it? Unless your staff is purely development oriented, you now have to retrain every one of them (and probably most of the developers). Linux for wide spread average business user use is a non starter.
  - dx034 9y ago
    I work in Tech and can work well with Linux shell but still use Windows as my main OS. I've tried various Desktop environments, none was as nice and productive as working with Windows for me. I still try it every year but so far I've always gone back after not more than a week. And Excel remains very powerful for quick data analysis, quicker than python tools for most one-time work. I think that Linux will become more successful where people don't interact closely with the OS (Phones, Kiosks, simple terminals) but Windows will remain dominant on most computers.

Havoc 9y ago

A big chunk of business is dead in the water without Excel (and to a lesser extent Word/Powerpoint). And no don't tell me google sheets. Great for sharing data...ultra crap for data manipulation.

jjcm 9y ago
As someone who doesn't use either, what are the big features you see missing in Google Sheets?
- jessaustin 9y ago
  FYI I've found that e.g. pivot tables work fine in Sheets. I also prefer some of the UI details.
- wilde 9y ago
  GSheets still can't scale up to the larger models our Finance team builds.
  - foxylad 9y ago
    I'm sure that's true. But for 90% of organisational users, Sheets will handle everything they need. Plus do intuitive sharing, automatic backups, and all the other advantages the cloud provides... for far less TCO than a traditional PC. Browser-based apps will always be far less powerful than native OS apps, and any sensible company will provide beefy machines for their engineers, finance team, graphic designers etc. And browsers for everyone else.
- Havoc 9y ago
  It's not so much big features but rather an accumulation of small things missing that basically kills it for a power user. The biggest issue for me is lack of keyboard shortcuts. If you use Excel a lot and have all the shortcut keys in muscle memory you can do things at speeds fast approaching magic. There are literally offices where first person to use the mouse during the day buys beers after work. There is also random sht missing that matters to me but apparently not to some dude at google HQ. Like the ability to remove duplicates from a list. Don't get me wrong - google sheets is great. It's just not a replacement for something that has been tweaked to perfection over years. MS is going to get killed on multiple fronts in the coming years. Excel is not one of them. Nothing is even close.

darkr 9y ago

> According to Ed Higgs, Interim Director of Global Service Delivery for Group IT at Rentokil: “With over 500 Chromebooks in use in our organization, Chrome now forms part of our standard offering within Rentokil Initial." 500? Do you even lift bro?

devrandomguy 9y ago

On a related note, does anyone know how to bury a dead corporate user account? The company that gave it to me doesn't even exist anymore, but Google keeps insisting that "account action is required". The company terminated my login shortly before imploding, and I lost the associated phone number when I fled the country, so there is no way that I can get back in to shut it down myself. I suppose I will eventually just buy a new phone in a few years, but I'm not thrilled about all that private work / business data that is sitting in limbo.

demarq 9y ago
you can't leave us hanging like that. sounds like there is a wild story to be told!!
- devrandomguy 9y ago
  I have all kinds of theories about what actually happened. All I really know for sure, is that a bunch of wild accusations were thrown around at the execs by a small clique of powerful investors, with new accusations being generated as old ones failed to stick. Then the execs were fired for unmentioned reasons and sworn to silence, with the threat that no employees would be paid if anyone broke silence or failed to follow the orders of the interim CEO (total stranger). This all happened over a single weekend. Considering that we were in a monarchy, and some of investors were royalty, I took that as my cue to get the F out of Dodge before my passport got locked. It took me a while to recover from the stress and the trauma; not knowing what ever happened makes it hard to put it behind me. Even now, I am afraid to share too much detail, because I am unsure of how that would affect the people who remained in the country. Always have an emergency exit ready to go; $5K in cash will get you across most borders, if you play your cards right.

open-source-ux 9y ago

Not a popular opinion here I know, but I'll say it anyway. Not a single word in that blog post about privacy. Chrome OS is already widely used in US schools (and tracks student online activities), now we have a 'business-friendly' version of Chrome OS. What kind of analytics does a cloud OS like this record? What does Google do with that data? Even if that data is 'anonymised' (a pretty meaningless term nowadays), in aggregated form that gives Google staggering quantities of data that they can mine for the future. Why did Google not even mention the word privacy once in that blog?

catdog 9y ago
Simple, there is no privacy in the cloud and nobody seems to care.
- jessaustin 9y ago
  If the companies that serve the cloud provided all the privacy they possibly could, would we then actually have privacy? That is, would NSA not be able to refer random communication to the parallel construction department for prosecution? The chain of privacy will only ever be as strong as its weakest link.
klondike_ 9y ago
There are very strict laws about using children's data, so I'd assume that the data collecting is kept to a minimum for Chromebooks in schools
- djsumdog 9y ago
  Are there? What specific laws? Even with such laws, I'm sure Google's legal team has picked through them to harvest the most amount of data possible from those students. Just today I was thinking about high traffic areas in Waze and Google Maps. Sure they're going to use traffic cameras and municipal reporting services if they exist, but you have to wonder to what extent they're using location data from all those phones not currently running a navigation app.

demarq 9y ago

That is a very compelling price point.

bluetwo 9y ago
I thought there would be more discussion on this as well. Think it is interesting and doable. Some may complain it is too much, but if it really does what it says it may be worth it.

chaudhary27 9y ago

I don't like to lock into Google ecosystem at work but I also hate some Microsoft services at work.

djsumdog 9y ago
You can run the Microsoft services locally if you wanted to. People hosted AD/Exchange for years before these new hosted services came along. Even when people outsource Exchange, they often still hosts their AD internally.

bedhead 9y ago

Sounds great until you realize that their "Hate Algorithm" or whatever will end up erroneously shutting down your computer one day.

jaypaulynice 9y ago

$50/device?? With that said, I suspect Facebook is working on a browser...that could compete well with Chrome...any reason why Facebook hasn't developed a browser?

manbearpigg 9y ago

I have kept away from Google since they started promoting their alt-left political agenda. Just software for me, thanks. At least I found a new appreciation for the open source movement.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

morpheus88 9y ago

Created a throwaway for this. But Google has a reputation for shutting you down without resort to any recourse and I can attest to this personally. Hope I'm not off topic, but I had a successful Android App which was taken down from the Playstore because I used a single keyword that was copyright, but it was really essential for this app and I had provided context for using the keyword. It was a free app anyway and I was making no money from it (no ads either). Anyway, they removed my app from the store and I had no way to get it back up- all my ratings, downloads, reviews were lost. The point here is that they didn't give me a chance to defend myself- one strike, and you're out and never coming back again. Imagine enterprises using Google products with this sort of an attitude.

mnd999 9y ago

Is it April 1 already?

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jdauriemma 9y ago

Random observation: the font-background contrast ratio in this post makes it very hard to read comfortably.