Chrome Web App Store
May 19th
Google announced yesterday at its Google I/O Developers conference that it will release a brand new Chrome Store – a Google Chrome web app store that will allow users to view, purchase, browse, and investigate different apps/games/magazines to be used in the upcoming Google Chrome OS.
Chrome Web App Store
The Chrome web store represents a stark contrast from Google’s previous efforts at trying to push people onto their search engine. Instead, they have deemed that it is too difficult finding proper apps online currently, and for that reason they believe a centralized store for Chrome web browser and Chrome OS will faciliate the process of finding and buying the apps that you are looking for.
chrome store
Google is currently busy on many different frontiers and their strategy of doing everything for everyone could come back to haunt them. The Chrome Store currenly is only planned to run on Google Chrome web browser or Google Chrome OS – something that is likely to limit the amount of developers who will want to develop for it. The Android mobile platform on the other hand is software based and again different from this latest endeavour.
Google with its latest Chrome web app store has tried to take on Apple where they are strongest – by providing a seeming competitor to the iTunes experience, but integrated into the web. The upcoming Google slate/tablet iPad killer will take advantage of all the functionality that Google is building right into web browsers and its very own Chrome OS. The Google Chrome web app store, beyond allowing users to buy apps, will grant Google an ecosystem which it can grow and eventually compete with Apple.
First Chrome OS User: Acer Netbook?
Dec 3rd
Acer’s chairman JT Wang expressed confidently this past week that Acer will be the first company to launch a Google Chrome OS Netbbook. It has been revealed that the Taiwanese computer manufacturer has been working on this project since the middle of 2009. The release date for the Acer Chrome OS Netbook is expected to be around the second half of 2010. Google themself had announced that they expected Chrome OS computer to show up in the second part of 2010.
While such claims can interpreted as rash and arrogant, we musn’t forget the company that we’re dealing with here. Acer is the second largest PC manufacturer in the world, and the largest manufacturer of laptops. You will also remember that Acer were the first major vendor to release a Netbook based on Google’s other operating system, Google Android (it was able to dual boot either into Windows or Android). The Acer Android Netbook wasn’t all that succesful but you can understand their motivation for wanting to find an alternate to the highly expensive cost of Microsoft Windows, especially in context of a relatively cheap netbook.
Acer and Chrome OS are in fact a match made in heaven and it would be surprising if this connection didn’t work this time around. Acer brings to the table top tier technology at bargain prices. Including a free operating software such as Chrome OS will drive prices even lower, and result in Acer’s competitors re-evaluating whether Microsoft Windows really is necessary. In turn, this type of dilemma and second doubting is exactly what Google wanted to create by introducing an operating system onto the marketplace.
While many critics claim that users of Chrome OS will be limited to those light users who only perform the most basic tasks, the ease of use and practicality of a super efficient computer might take precedence over the aspects. Sure it’s nice to have so much power and functionality with a Microsoft running Laptop. However, if you think about the startup times, boot times, software problems, driver problems, lack of disk space, external storage devices, and all the other problems that come with such a system…then it doesn’t become too difficult to see that perhaps a super cheap, lightning quick, and overwhelmingly easy user interface and usage experience of a Acer Chrome OS partnership is something that many people could want.
Be on the lookout for more news and information about the Google Chrome OS running Acer Netbook Computer.
How to Boot Chrome OS from USB
Dec 2nd
Chrome OS USB Guide
Several days ago, Google decided to release the Chrome OS source code for all the world to see. Almost immediately, the internet was full of images for running the new Operating System on virtual machines (VMWare and VirtualBox). While running Google Chrome OS off a virtual machine is easier, it’s certainly not the most satisfying experience. This guide is for those of you who would like to have a genuine feel of what Chrome OS feels like (as genuine as can be with a operating system that has been publicly released yet).
Warnings for Using Chrome OS
Currently the version of Chrome OS available is not really close to being done yet and so you should know before you get started that it won’t be the most glamorous feeling.
You should know also that this operating system is very simplistic by design, as it is intended for use on netbook computers. Netbooks as you know are stripped down laptops only intended to be used for the simplest of tasks such as surfing the web, writing some emails, watching YouTube etc. In fact Chrome OS is very similar to the Google Chrome browser that has been on the market for quite a while.
Chrome OS USB Requirements
This version of the Google operating system will be run off a USB drive, so naturally you will need a USB storage device of some type. The image file size is 2,988,442,112 bytes, so we recommend at least a 4GB drive and preferably 8GB of storage space. The files on the USB drive that you have should be backed up if you need them as they will be deleted during this process.
This is quite basic, but you need a computer that is able to boot files of a USB. If you’re computer is not prehistoric this shouldn’t really be an issue. Normally, the computer boots off hard drive, and you will have to go to your BIOS page and instruct it to use USB as the main boot device. As a side note, on most computers the way to bring up your BIOS page is F8, but it should say so in the first couple of seconds when you start your computer. Your computer will also need a network adapter, so again your computer needs to be not too old.
One major requirement is obviously getting the Chrome OS software. The open source version available for download is called Chromium OS (you can easily find it through torrents or through a quick search on Google).The software you’ll use to create the Chrome OS USB boot disk is called Image Writer for Windows – and it will be included in the download of Chrome OS that you get. It’s just a tool for writing images (so if you already have one, then you wont need it.
Install Chromium OS to your USB Drive
Launch the Image Writer click the folder icon and select the chrome_os.img file (it should be located in the same place where you extracted the zip file and launched Win32DiskImager.exe).
Now make sure you connect your USB drive to your PC. Click the Device dropdown and choose the drive letter that equates to your USB drive. For the final step, just click on the WRITE button.
How to Boot Up Chromium OS
Make sure your USB is still plugged in and reboot your computer using any technique you want. Once the machine boots, press the boot menu key and Select the USB drive from the list of choices in the menu. Wait abit and you will see the Chromium OS login screen.
Here’s an important part that’s crucial and has caused many people problems, you need to put in a username and password. The Chromium OS username is chronos and Chromium OS password is password. Now you will be running the Google Chrome OS, you’re almost done. Click on the Chrome sphere on the top left, you will see a Google Accounts login page advising you to login to welcome. If you have a Google account use that, if not either ask a friend or go to Google and create one.
If you get an error that means that Chrome OS isn’t specific to run on your machine (probably because of the network adapter) and you will need to use a Virtual Machine to try out Google’s OS.
That completes our guide to run Google Chrome OS using a USB drive. If you have any questions about this how to guide for trying out Chrome OS, let us know in the comments.
What is Google Chrome OS?
Nov 30th
Google Chrome OS, shortly known as Chrome OS or fully known as Google Chrome Operating System, is the new open source operating system designed by Google. The Google OS itself is based around the Linux operating system and targets specific types of hardware. A stable and public release date for Google Chrome OS is expected around the second half of 2010 – there are already Beta versions circulating around the internet released by Google themselves.
Chrome OS is a very special type of Operating System that is designed for quite a specific purpose such as with web-based entertainment and programs like http://www.cheekybingo.com/ or with computers that have very little hard-disk space. The user interface is very similar to Google’s Browser, Google Chrome and the browser is in fact the only application residing on the computer itself. To run other programs, you will need to access web based applications that will be available for the most popular programs. One thing to note is that you won’t be able to run any executable files (.exe) with computers that run Chrome OS. As you can see, the OS is meant for very light users who spend most of their time on the internet.
The biggest fans and users of Chrome OS will be users of small mobile devices like Netbooks, UMPC’s (Ultra Mobile Personal Computers) and eventually smart phones as well. Not too long ago, Google released another Operating System called Android, that has become quite popular on mobile phones. Even some Netbooks were planning on using Google’s Android Operating System. This can sound like a confusing strategy from Google’s part, and has even drawn large criticism from Google’s main rival Microsoft who have accused the Big G of not being able to make up their mind. Google has responded by saying that currently the Netbook market and smart phone market are two distinct groups, and have different needs, but have acknowledge that over time these two segments will converge.
So what’s so special about the Chrome OS? How about an already demonstrated boot up time of 7 seconds, and some have even gotten it to start in around 3! Another big advantage of the Chrome OS is that you won’t really need a hard drive anymore as all apps are web based, and data is mostly stored online – both taking great advantage of cloud computing. As you won’t be able to run executable files, and will hardly store anything on your computer, Google’s OS is expected to be virus-free. One major concern for users might be what will happen if you don’t have access to the internet – will your computer running Chrome OS be completely useless? Well, naturally Google has thought this through and they will enable you to use web-apps and programs in offline mode as Google already does for its online apps such as Gmail and its Chrome Browser.
Overall, Google Chrome OS is quite a unique software in this day and age where the usual sign of technological progress is MORE not LESS. This very minimalistic approach by Google with it’s OS is in fact just in line with the Netbook market that has unexpectedly skyrocketed over the past couple years. It seems that alongside the power users requiring more control and power, there is also a huge market for simple, fast, cheap, and effective technology. The Google Chrome OS represents the biggest competition that Microsoft Windows has faced since its creation, despite the fact that they are two completely different pieces of technology with opposing methodologies for achieving what is essentially the same purpose. It’s safe to say that Google Chrome OS will be a well adopted Operating System that will become a major part of our lives in the near future. Hope this introduction to Chrome OS gives you a good idea and background about Google’s latest and possibly best breakthrough.