I am one of the lucky few who received one of Google's pilot program Chrome OS laptops, and its really quite amazing. For those who do not know, Chrome OS is essentially built to use the internet, and thats it. To even login on Chrome OS you must have a Google account and you must be connected to the internet. The screen that pops up is then basically Chrome. (I would take a screenshot, but I am unsure how to.... Bit flawed still)

What I feel Google is attempting to do with this operating system is encourage the use of their own online applications through the selling of cheap laptops. Their commitment to improving their JavaScript engine also supports this (http://blog.chromium.org/2010/12/new...ft-for-v8.html). If the hardware requirements to have a speedy web experience drop, then the laptops could be sold for even less (I'm thinking $100-$200) which would certainly attract many people.

Thoughts?

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Can it do anything better or different than windows or linux?

Your link is dead?

No, it does less which is the point.

Fixed.

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from what I understand of Google OS, its a system for Internet-based activities only right? All files, documents, etc. are hosted in their datacenters.

Its a good idea, Almost like an extreme improvement on netbooks.

I attempted to apply to get one, but apparently it's only for United States residences.

As soon as you figure out how to screenshot, please post it.

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Yea. You use services like Google Docs.

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That doesn't make sense.

It just browses the internet. Very fast start up. From the time you get it out of the box, to you being online is like 15 seconds. Everything you do is in the cloud, and its honestly quite cool.

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I have Chromium by Hexxeh (http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/) on a flash drive and I use it if my computer is off and I need to look something up quick, or check on something online, I just plug it in and boot up on it, it takes literally 15 seconds like you said. I think it's really nifty and quite useful.

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I applied for one a while ago, no answer yet. I can see it being extremely useful if they price it right. The majority of the sheep in this country do nothing but email, facebook, and youtube on the computer.

There is definitely a huge market for cheap laptops that do nothing but browse the web. If I didn't do such high-maintenance work on my laptop (photoshop, programming, video editing, etc) I would honestly consider getting one. Google is my favorite company, I've never been disappointed with one of their products, which is exactly why I bought a Nexus One.

I think if they make these netbooks cheaper than windows netbooks, with some marketing (which google is terrible at) they will take off.

If the netbooks are less than $150 bucks, they will most likely boom.

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I applied a few days ago. Would love to get one as I'm always using the net more than i really use anything else. The idea of an OS based upon JUST what you need sounds amazing and I'm sure will be brilliant. And it's as you said if they can put it on 200$ netbooks and cheap 300$ laptops i can see it being really popular.

The two main issues people see with it are the availability of WiFi and that data is stored in data centers. People who are worried about their data not being stored on their home computer and dumb. Data centers back stuff up every day. Most people rarely back their computers up. >_>.

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if it is like android, i will definitely get, I loved my android phone. much better than apple os or windows mobile

So like all you can do on it is surf the web?

What if you have something you dont want anybody too see on your computer then ofc you will be worried about it being stored at there data center instead of your pc

Its more secure on a data center than your PC.

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That's how long my Windows 7 takes to start up tbh.

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Time how long it takes from the moment you hit the start button to the time you have an open web browser. Go!

Edit: My windows 7 w/out password = 58 seconds till Chrome is open and ready to go.

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