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After my attempt at compiling ChromeOS ended in failure I installed a Hexxeh vanilla release on a 2yr old Intel Atom based PC. And I have to admit, I liked it,
by dstein 15y ago
After my attempt at compiling ChromeOS ended in failure I installed a Hexxeh vanilla release on a 2yr old Intel Atom based PC. And I have to admit, I liked it, a lot more than I thought I would. Here are some of my thoughts:
- It irks me quite lot that I need to use a Google account to log into the OS. If they remove that restriction it'll go a long way to alleviating the Google-creepiness.
- In the Hexxeh release I used Flash was not enabled by default, I had to click a warning message to use Flash on every page, I assume this is fixed by now
- There is no user-exposed filesystem and no way to install apps (without hacking in a console). There is no software, desktop, icons, home folders... nothing. You totally get this feeling of using an Operating System-Free computer.
- The version of Chrome browser that gets installed maybe wasn't the latest but it certainly does feel fast enough to use, especially on a slow system. Chrome browser on ChromeOS is significantly faster than IE on Windows on the same system.
- HackerNews displays with a serif font presumably because PG doesn't have a 'sans-serif' alternative font in the HN codebase.
- I have a very strong urge to minimize the browser and see the desktop.
- The browser does not have a full-screen mode. If you want to watch a youtube video, there is no way to maximize the video, the tabs and URL bar are always visible. I found this to be extremely annoying and hopefully gets added.
- The browser needs to have a tab split-screen mode. I need to be able to look at 2 or more windows simultaneously, and the modal restriction gets on my nerves.
- To my surprise both audio and my webcam worked, although I had some boot up issues when the webcam was plugged into the USB port, but I could plug it in once it was booted up
There are some major usability problems here, but if they get addressed it could become quite cool. I would totally enjoy having this built into my next television or monitor.
- Raphael 15y agoFull-screen works. F11. You can also Alt+Tab to different windows (of Chrome).
- dstein 15y agoNot on my system, I just updated to the latest Hexxeh release and F11 doesn't go fullscreen and there is no menu option either. But I was mistaken, flash can go fullscreen.
- dstein 15y agoOops I was mistaken, there is now a fullscreen menu item in the tools section. Anyways they are certainly making some good improvements.
- derefr 15y ago> It irks me quite lot that I need to use a Google account to log into the OS. I don't think they're going to change that one—in any thin-client OS, you need a globally-unique identifier of some sort to save things (preferences, bookmarks, etc.) to the cloud. And it's not like you need to use your Google account; you can just go make a Gmail account called "dstein.chromeos" or somesuch and use that.
- nextparadigms 15y agoI'm not sure if hexxeh pushes updates to it now, but the Flow version is like a year old.
- dstein 15y agoHe updates them every day: http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/vanilla.php http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/vanilla.php
- kalmi10 15y agoVanilla != Flow Flow is a fork(?) of ChromeOS created by Hexxeh which runs on most PCs. Vanilla only supports the hardware Google officially supports. Unfortunately Hexxeh abandoned Flow after it turned out to be too tedious and unrewardnig(lots of users demanding(!) support for their hw).