Techcrunch: Google Chrome OS Still Coming this year (it might just be in beta form)

[cbn]

http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/22/google-chrome-os-2010/

There’s a lot of hoopla right now that Google’s Chrome OS has been delayed and will miss the stated release date of “this year”. Much of this is based off of the comment that Google CEO Eric Schmidt made last week at Web 2.0 Summit, in which he said that Chrome OS would be available sometime in “the next few months”. So I asked Google today if they were still sticking with the “later this year” availability of Chrome OS — the answer I got? An enthusiastic “yep!”

But just in case, I decided to follow up and ask if that meant an actual shipping product was coming or some test version of the OS? The answer there was much more murky. “We’re not going into details at this point,” is what I was told.

Looking over the code issues in the Chromium OS forums, it looks as if work is still progressing to knock out a lot of late-stage bugs before the OS can be released. Many of these bugs are UI-related, but several seem much more serious, as well. That said, there are a few indications that a “beta” release of the OS may be drawing near. As you can see here, there are only six bugs labeled as “ReleaseBlock-Beta”. And almost all of them are related to the UI of buying a 3G plan from a Chrome OS-powered netbook. There’s also a “ReleaseBlock-Nominate” list, which features 38 bugs.

There are other indications that Google is removing certain features that contain “show-stopping bugs” in order to get a beta out there.

So, if I had to guess, I would bet that we’ll see some sort of Chrome OS beta launch in December. But that will disappoint many people, as we were originally told that ChromeBooks (Chrome OS-powered netbooks) would be here in time for the holidays. Unless some vendors are willing to ship a very beta product, that’s probably not going to happen.

But maybe there is hope. All About Microsoft’s Mary-Jo Foley says she talked to Google recently about the OS:

I had a chance to ask the Googlers about Chrome OS recently, and was told that a preview version of Google OS is still going to hit this year and be available in test form on several new form factors.

Of course, she also notes that “Google, like Microsoft, is not going to have a viable iPad competitor available in time for holiday 2010.” But Google is already distancing itself from the talk that Chrome OS is meant for tablets. At the same Web 2.0 Summit talk which featured Schmidt’s comments above, he also said that Chrome OS was meant for keyboards, while Android was meant for touch.

That said, there’s no denying that ChromeBooks and iPads are very likely to eventually go head to head in the market simply because both will likely cost around the same amount of money. And despite Schmidt’s comments, Google has been thinking about Chrome OS in the tablet space as well.

Opinions?

A data plan for these low cost netbooks? Maybe Google will consider more offline apps in addition to the Media Player?

EDIT: Here is the DailyTech version of the same article

 

[VirtualLarry]

A useable OS I can slap onto machine for free on the machines I build is always a good thing. Windows is expensive. (Been stocking up on those Win7 Family Packs)

 

[Nothinman]

A useable OS I can slap onto machine for free on the machines I build is always a good thing. Windows is expensive. (Been stocking up on those Win7 Family Packs)

There's already a dozen Linux distros that fit this bill, having Google slap their brand on Linux and ship Chrome won't make it magical.

 

[Mem]

There's already a dozen Linux distros that fit this bill, having Google slap their brand on Linux and ship Chrome won't make it magical.

Exactly,its nothing special when you have all those excellent free Linux Distros's already available,think I'll stick to my Ubuntu and Win7.

 

[cbn]

A useable OS I can slap onto machine for free on the machines I build is always a good thing. Windows is expensive. (Been stocking up on those Win7 Family Packs)

I don't think Google is planning to let users install Chrome OS directly onto their machines.

However, Chromium OS would be a different story.

 

[cbn]

There's already a dozen Linux distros that fit this bill, having Google slap their brand on Linux and ship Chrome won't make it magical.

Exactly,its nothing special when you have all those excellent free Linux Distros's already available,think I'll stick to my Ubuntu and Win7.

Surely there must be a reason why Google is investing so much in this operating system.

1. What does this do for Google? (Today I read an article regarding how Google collects personal information for the purposes of making money. Apparently signing into Gmail somehow enhances their ability to link personal names to internet searches. Relevance? Well in past videos I have noticed part of the process of signing into Chromium OS involves signing into Gmail)

Comments? Opinions? Concerns?

2. What does this do for the consumer? How will Google sell this idea to people? Will there be additional offline apps? Today I was reading one of the older Daily Tech Chrome OS articles here, and if you scroll down to the 5th and 6th entries you will see the following comments on the matter:

Chrome OS cannot run standalone applications, unless they changed something. It boots to a web browser.

It sits on Linux. All any Linux app needs to run is a wrapper so that it can sit inside of Chrome. It will take a bit more coding to adapt, but it is going to be tinkered with anyway to optimize for ARM. And of course it will need to be prepped through some type of marketplace.

 

[RebateMonger]

Windows is expensive. (Been stocking up on those Win7 Family Packs)

Nothing wrong with "free", but Win7, so far, has been a lot cheaper than previous Windows versions. Over the past year or so since Win7 became available, Win7 Home Premium Upgrades have been available to all consumers for $50 a copy for three or four of those months. That's way cheaper than past Windows releases. And the 90+ percent of people who buy their PCs from large OEMS are likely paying less than that for Windows.

But I think most will agree that MS should be lowering its OS prices now that volumes are so high.

 

[cbn]

I have a question about Ubuntu:

In this slide (which I found by scanning an old Ubuntu thread here at Anandtech) the Microsoft Best Buy training program lists Linux as having problems with Printers and scanners.

But aren't solutions emerging to help Ubuntu and other Operating systems get around this disadvantage? (For example I have read HP scanners and printers now use email rather than a desktop connection for operation).

What about Cameras, MP3 players, iPods and other peripherals? Are more products coming out with solutions to avoid incompatibility?

 

[RebateMonger]

[Opinions?

I think that Clouds are beautiful until it rains.

Historically, Google makes its money by directing people to the web sites of its clients. The more time you spend on the web, the more Google can expose you to its clients.

Nothing wrong with that. I'm more concerned that it won't run offline apps.

 

[Mem]

I have a question about Ubuntu:

In this slide (which I found by scanning an old Ubuntu thread here at Anandtech) the Microsoft Best Buy training program lists Linux as having problems with Printers and scanners.

But aren't solutions emerging to help Ubuntu and other Operating systems get around this disadvantage? (For example I have read HP scanners and printers now use email rather than a desktop connection for operation).

What about Cameras, MP3 players, iPods and other peripherals? Are more products coming out with solutions to avoid incompatibility?

I personally think Ubuntu and Linux hardware support is pretty good in general ,example being I borrowed my brothers wireless HP all in one printer,Ubuntu had no problems detecting that,it was very simple to set it up on Ubuntu,my wireless Belkin NIC was also detected and default drivers again were fine.

End of the day Linux has improved a lot over the years with regards to hardware support.

As to problem threads well you can find problem threads on any OS,it only takes seconds to find those sort of threads so no OS is perfect,just like no user is perfect 😉 .

 

[ViRGE]

Not to be too pithy, but is anyone here really seriously anticipating Chrome OS? Even with only a month until its supposed release, it still seems like it's a solution in search of a problem.

 

[Nothinman]

I have a question about Ubuntu:

In this slide (which I found by scanning an old Ubuntu thread here at Anandtech) the Microsoft Best Buy training program lists Linux as having problems with Printers and scanners.

But aren't solutions emerging to help Ubuntu and other Operating systems get around this disadvantage? (For example I have read HP scanners and printers now use email rather than a desktop connection for operation).

What about Cameras, MP3 players, iPods and other peripherals? Are more products coming out with solutions to avoid incompatibility?

If those are the same slides I remember reading a few years ago, they're 100% propaganda. Sure there are devices for which no Linux driver exists, but on the flip side those devices are usually pure shit and barely work in Windows if they do at all. And the drivers that do exist in Linux are usually more stable and more capable. All it comes down to is that you need to do research before buying any piece of hardware regardless of the OS being used.