Hello World from Google Chrome OS – First Thoughts
November 21st, 2009 by Brad HeapHello World!
I am now running Google Chrome OS off a 4GB flash drive in my laptop.
So far it is not as spectacular as first thought, and it is very clear that this is a development build however I can see much potential in Chrome OS in the future.
Some brief thoughts:
- Boot times. From a cold start 26 seconds to login screen. From post BIOS to login screen 13 seconds. Not the 7 seconds advertised but still quick.
- WIFI does not work on my laptop. This had me hunting for a network cable to get online. WIFI has always been an issue under linux so this could be a major roadblock for Google in making Chrome OS widespread.
- Typing is slow and delayed. There seems to be some major problem with lag when typing.
- System stability. So far I have had weird lock ups on my laptop after a few minutes of use. In particular I can still move the mouse but cannot click or type and have to press the power button to shut off the system. However, this may be a bug in the latest linux kernel as Ubuntu does the same thing on my laptop. I will test on my desktop and report back.
- Android is much more of a complete OS.
This last point is interesting. Android is designed for smart phones which typically have less powerful components than a netbook or laptop. However, Android allows the user to add apps and other software and has much more of an OS feel to it. Chrome OS consisting of only a web browser turns the end device into nothing more than a very dumb dumb terminal. Surely there needs to be a middle ground. I would not use Chrome OS if I wanted to download images off a digital camera for instance as there is nowhere local to save and edit them.
Overall Chrome OS has potential has a very fast way to boot into a web browser if that is all you want to do. However, as it currently is, systems in the future with Chrome OS running will also need to provide a second much larger and more complete OS for those more complex but equally common tasks.
