7 ms·

Google Chrome OS Screenshots?

46 points by peter123 17y ago

duckbridge 17y ago
Real!?
- zandorg 17y ago
  I'm not sure. It depends whether they'd use that kind of monitor at Google! Having said that, all you'd need for a Google OS would be: +Vesa VGA drivers up to big resolutions +Ethernet/Wifi drivers (these are pretty much standard these days) +Keyboard/mouse/sound drivers +A web browser
  - swolchok 17y ago
    That does not look like a standard-issue Google monitor, but maybe it's a test machine with very low specs. Not unlikely considering the target market.
ams6110 17y ago
According to google, the Chrome OS is a lightweight Linux kernel and a new, simple window manager. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. I guess maybe it will be packaged as a consumer appliance in a way that Linux hardly ever has been.
- endergen 17y ago
  Let's not forget that the Chrome Browser and therefore the Chrome OS will come with a lot of HMTL5 features build into the browser. This will enable a lot of cool applications to be built that can be run on very cheap and efficient OS/Hardware combinations.
  - icefox 17y ago
    <sarcasm>I know, very exciting I don't think any browser other then Chrome will have HTML5</sarcasm>
- mhansen 17y ago
  Don't underestimate the power of simplicity. Simplicity is worth a LOT of fuss.
- jhancock 17y ago
  If I can't use it as a programmer's workstation as well as a simplified desktop, its of no use to me. I realize their target audience may be thin consumer devices, but if they want good stuff dev'd on it, developers need to work directly on it as well. Time will tell.
  - UpFromTheGut 17y ago
    "... but if they want good stuff dev'd on it" I think this completely misses the point. Applications are web apps. You're not supposed to dev for the OS. Edit: formatting
    - jhancock 17y ago
      nope, wasn't missing the point at all. Imagine if you will, I'm developing a webapp. I want to target ChromeOS users. I could run a separate VM to test on, but no, I want to dev and test on one system for the most part. I want my app framework stack and all the tools running on this thing and use the web browser to look things up on localhost, right. Also, if this is to end up being a good open source citizen and google doesn't expect to do _all_ the work, developers need to be able to work on the platform as developers and not use it remotely to test and debug. Thats' what I 'm talkin' 'bout ;) I get the whole HTML 5 and Web 2.0++ thing.
      - wmf 17y ago
        For testing you use Chrome on a real OS.
        jhancock 17y ago
        I probably didn't make myself very clear in the last post. Lets say ChromeOS gets put on netbooks and is a solid option compared to a Windows 7 or Linux netbook. Am I, a hacker, going to use such a device? No, I have more to do than just use webapps. So as a hacker, its of little interest to me unless I can also use a good subset of linux dev tools.
      - deleted 17y ago
mrkurt 17y ago
That looks like a new BeOS. Nice.
- whughes 17y ago
  To me, the idea of running applications in the "cloud" on JavaScript and HTML is the total opposite of a new BeOS. BeOS is supposed to be lightweight and highly responsive. The Web is not. That doesn't mean that ChromeOS won't have its uses, but any other modern OS will get you closer to BeOS than this.
  - TomOfTTB 17y ago
    Not really true. I think Gears is a clear indicator of how Google sees the post-HTML5 world. Given that I think one of the driving ideas behind a ChromeOS is that programs and data will be cached to some extent on the desktop (a view that seems to be shared with Adobe (AIR) and Microsoft (Silverlight)) Web apps that are cached should be both light weight and responsive
    - whughes 17y ago
      Compared to BeOS, Web apps that are cached are in no way lightweight and responsive. Maybe we're defining lightweight and responsive differently. I am thinking about the real-time media capabilities of BeOS which let you drag around videos on Pentium IIs. I'm thinking about native C++ applications and a completely multithreaded system. I'm thinking about Gobe Productive and native e-mail clients. For me, lightweight runs on a Pentium Pro with 64MB RAM. Gmail is not lightweight. Compared to Yahoo Mail or Live Mail, its design is airy, and it's well-optimized. Let's be honest: Chrome OS is only here to tap the netbooks. It's not going to revive the massive amount of old hardware that BeOS could use. YouTube isn't lightweight. Chrome's process-per-tab system isn't lightweight.
    - GeneralMaximus 17y ago
      Web apps can't hope to achieve the kind of responsiveness BeOS offered, at least not for a few more years. Unless you have near-zero network latency and multithreaded JavaScript apps, you cannot possibly build responsive web apps. We will get there, sure, but it will take a while. BTW, I know this because I use Haiku on my PC. Haiku is responsive because it has been built to be that way from the ground up :)
w1ntermute 17y ago
Looks like it doesn't include support for taking screenshots…
rms 17y ago
I believe these are fake. Chrome OS is not in beta -- Chrome for Linux is in alpha, and Google releases betas. Also, the maximized window with all that white space is bad design. My expectation is that Chrome OS will look like a maximized version of Chrome the browser with task management inside of the browser window instead of outside of the browser window like in these screenshots. Though I won't be too upset if these screenshots are real.
tdonia 17y ago
seems very similar to the current chrome 3 developer's preview which changed the start page last week to one without a sidebar as in these shots. seems like they're preparing to use this space for something more sophisticated.
freetard 17y ago
Fake.
mgrouchy 17y ago
What seems funny to me about these screenshots is that even though they appear they are on a desktop computer, if you look in the bottom corner of one of the screens you can see what appears to be a battery meter(as you would see on a laptop). But who knows, maybe its just a laptop hooked up to a monitor...

46 points by peter123 17y ago

duckbridge 17y ago

Real!?

zandorg 17y ago
I'm not sure. It depends whether they'd use that kind of monitor at Google! Having said that, all you'd need for a Google OS would be: +Vesa VGA drivers up to big resolutions +Ethernet/Wifi drivers (these are pretty much standard these days) +Keyboard/mouse/sound drivers +A web browser
- swolchok 17y ago
  That does not look like a standard-issue Google monitor, but maybe it's a test machine with very low specs. Not unlikely considering the target market.

ams6110 17y ago

According to google, the Chrome OS is a lightweight Linux kernel and a new, simple window manager. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. I guess maybe it will be packaged as a consumer appliance in a way that Linux hardly ever has been.

endergen 17y ago
Let's not forget that the Chrome Browser and therefore the Chrome OS will come with a lot of HMTL5 features build into the browser. This will enable a lot of cool applications to be built that can be run on very cheap and efficient OS/Hardware combinations.
- icefox 17y ago
  <sarcasm>I know, very exciting I don't think any browser other then Chrome will have HTML5</sarcasm>
mhansen 17y ago
Don't underestimate the power of simplicity. Simplicity is worth a LOT of fuss.
jhancock 17y ago
If I can't use it as a programmer's workstation as well as a simplified desktop, its of no use to me. I realize their target audience may be thin consumer devices, but if they want good stuff dev'd on it, developers need to work directly on it as well. Time will tell.
- UpFromTheGut 17y ago
  "... but if they want good stuff dev'd on it" I think this completely misses the point. Applications are web apps. You're not supposed to dev for the OS. Edit: formatting
  - jhancock 17y ago
    nope, wasn't missing the point at all. Imagine if you will, I'm developing a webapp. I want to target ChromeOS users. I could run a separate VM to test on, but no, I want to dev and test on one system for the most part. I want my app framework stack and all the tools running on this thing and use the web browser to look things up on localhost, right. Also, if this is to end up being a good open source citizen and google doesn't expect to do _all_ the work, developers need to be able to work on the platform as developers and not use it remotely to test and debug. Thats' what I 'm talkin' 'bout ;) I get the whole HTML 5 and Web 2.0++ thing.
    - wmf 17y ago
      For testing you use Chrome on a real OS.
      - jhancock 17y ago
        I probably didn't make myself very clear in the last post. Lets say ChromeOS gets put on netbooks and is a solid option compared to a Windows 7 or Linux netbook. Am I, a hacker, going to use such a device? No, I have more to do than just use webapps. So as a hacker, its of little interest to me unless I can also use a good subset of linux dev tools.
    - deleted 17y ago

mrkurt 17y ago

That looks like a new BeOS. Nice.

whughes 17y ago
To me, the idea of running applications in the "cloud" on JavaScript and HTML is the total opposite of a new BeOS. BeOS is supposed to be lightweight and highly responsive. The Web is not. That doesn't mean that ChromeOS won't have its uses, but any other modern OS will get you closer to BeOS than this.
- TomOfTTB 17y ago
  Not really true. I think Gears is a clear indicator of how Google sees the post-HTML5 world. Given that I think one of the driving ideas behind a ChromeOS is that programs and data will be cached to some extent on the desktop (a view that seems to be shared with Adobe (AIR) and Microsoft (Silverlight)) Web apps that are cached should be both light weight and responsive
  - whughes 17y ago
    Compared to BeOS, Web apps that are cached are in no way lightweight and responsive. Maybe we're defining lightweight and responsive differently. I am thinking about the real-time media capabilities of BeOS which let you drag around videos on Pentium IIs. I'm thinking about native C++ applications and a completely multithreaded system. I'm thinking about Gobe Productive and native e-mail clients. For me, lightweight runs on a Pentium Pro with 64MB RAM. Gmail is not lightweight. Compared to Yahoo Mail or Live Mail, its design is airy, and it's well-optimized. Let's be honest: Chrome OS is only here to tap the netbooks. It's not going to revive the massive amount of old hardware that BeOS could use. YouTube isn't lightweight. Chrome's process-per-tab system isn't lightweight.
  - GeneralMaximus 17y ago
    Web apps can't hope to achieve the kind of responsiveness BeOS offered, at least not for a few more years. Unless you have near-zero network latency and multithreaded JavaScript apps, you cannot possibly build responsive web apps. We will get there, sure, but it will take a while. BTW, I know this because I use Haiku on my PC. Haiku is responsive because it has been built to be that way from the ground up :)

w1ntermute 17y ago

Looks like it doesn't include support for taking screenshots…

rms 17y ago

I believe these are fake. Chrome OS is not in beta -- Chrome for Linux is in alpha, and Google releases betas. Also, the maximized window with all that white space is bad design. My expectation is that Chrome OS will look like a maximized version of Chrome the browser with task management inside of the browser window instead of outside of the browser window like in these screenshots. Though I won't be too upset if these screenshots are real.

tdonia 17y ago

seems very similar to the current chrome 3 developer's preview which changed the start page last week to one without a sidebar as in these shots. seems like they're preparing to use this space for something more sophisticated.

freetard 17y ago

Fake.

mgrouchy 17y ago

What seems funny to me about these screenshots is that even though they appear they are on a desktop computer, if you look in the bottom corner of one of the screens you can see what appears to be a battery meter(as you would see on a laptop). But who knows, maybe its just a laptop hooked up to a monitor...