Google Chrome OS

Several days ago Google released a beta copy of their highly anticipated operating system, Google Chrome OS. I have always been a big fan of Google's products and have been a long time Google user so I have high hopes for this project. Chrome OS isn't meant for everyone. It's targeted for a specific set of users, and a specific type of computer. It was built for netbooks; small, lite, laptops that are made for the road. It's targeted for those consumers who won't be doing extreme gaming or running large software like Adobe's Photoshop CS4.

My first impressions after loading Chrome OS into my Sun VirtualBox is that the boot speeds are incredibly fast. You're instantly met by an interesting screen that we all know as the login screen. What makes this interesting is that you must have a Google account to log into the system. This isn't a big deal for most of us since 29.6 million people have Gmail/Google accounts, and that probably includes you and me.

After logging in, I was met with a Chrome-browser looking screen with a couple little additions that make up the OS. At the top left of the screen there was the trademark Chrome beachball looking icon. After clicking on the icon, it provided me with a list of places I could navigate to, including a Calculator, Gmail, YouTube, etc. After clicking on one of the 'applications' it redirected me to a new browser tab with the 'application' in it. This brings me to a good point. There are no 'programs' in Chrome OS, they are all built off HTML-5 applications in the cloud. This is really neat, but also brings some downfalls which I will discuss later.

Other than that, it's really hard to say alot for the OS since its pretty much a glorified browser. This cloud-based operating system is great for netbooks because all they are built to do is read email and surf the web. As a reviewer, I must point out some downfalls I forsee. First is the fact that all your data is not stored on your computer, but rather on the cloud. The 'cloud' is what we refer to as servers somewhere in the world that hold information such as your email and local news. This could cause a big problem because with all your information being held someplace else, there is a vulnerability for hackers to get into Google's servers and retrieve personal information about you. No computer, no matter how advanced it is, can be 100% stable. If Google's servers crash, all your information is not accessible to you until Google fixes the problem.

For me, I would not use Google Chrome OS since I am actively creating web content, engaging in graphically demanding games, etc. For the average Joe that checks his email, searches to see who won the football game last night, and occasionally watches a movie, this OS is perfect! In summary, lookout Windows XP based netbooks, because here comes Google Chrome!