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Chrome OS preview looks pretty cool
f0dder:
Chrome OS Security overview - sounds good... but also like a potentially very locked-down platform. (lockdown against malware = good, lockdown against users = bad).
zridling:
Great find, f0dder. When you consider what people would be using a Chrome machine for -- social networking, flickr, banking, travel arrangements, buying tickets, etc., if it's not reasonably secure, it would be a terrible device indeed! It takes my bank 10 business days to replace my debit card (not everyone accepts the temporary one they provide in the interim), you can imagine the hassle of a web machine that is too loose with your data, ID, and password info.
f0dder:
The security level makes sense, and I think it's essentially a pretty good idea... I just hope they aren't going to use it to limit what you can do on your hardware - and that they let developers target the platform without a lot of draconian requirements (Apple/iPhone springs to mind here - you need a Mac, you need to pay to get your stuff on the iPhone store, and the crap is heavily censored (both "moral" as well as "oh, that could hurt our own profits" crap)).
zridling:
I'd agree with that, but not for Chrome OS. It's an OS literally built for a device that runs one thing: the browser. Google explains it far better than I can:
The goal is to build "an operating system that provides a fast, simple, and more secure computing experience for people who spend most of their time on the web." Here are the initial use cases for Chrome OS:
* Computing on the couch
* Use as a lightweight, secondary work computer
* Borrowing a device for use in coffee shops and libraries
* Sharing a second computer among family members
"First, it's all about the web. All apps are web apps. The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications. This means users do not have to deal with installing, managing and updating programs.
"Second, because all apps live within the browser, there are significant benefits to security. Unlike traditional operating systems, Chrome OS doesn't trust the applications you run. Each app is contained within a security sandbox making it harder for malware and viruses to infect your computer. Furthermore, Chrome OS barely trusts itself. Every time you restart your computer the operating system verifies the integrity of its code. If your system has been compromised, it is designed to fix itself with a reboot. While no computer can be made completely secure, we're going to make life much harder (and less profitable) for the bad guys. If you dig security, read the Chrome OS Security Overview or watch the video.
"Most of all, even though developers can view its source code and compile it, Chrome OS won't be available for download because it requires a special hardware configuration and it's not designed for multi-boot. Chrome OS is just the platform for Chrome OS netbooks. We are taking out every unnecessary process, optimizing many operations and running everything possible in parallel. This means you can go from turning on the computer to surfing the web in a few seconds. Our obsession with speed goes all the way down to the metal. We are specifying reference hardware components to create the fastest experience for Google Chrome OS," explains Google.
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Microsoft's Gazelle project is very similar. But I do think that merely being a web machine won't show its full value at least for 2-3 years. I can work within Google Docs (and I do) or Zoho Office online, but I prefer OpenOffice on the desktop for a wide variety of more complex tasks. I can see its value, assuming it's a $100-$150 machine or so, but if someone takes the code and opens it up to a few big apps, then it will level a lot of Linux distros in its path. And that won't be a bad thing; they need move beyond KDE/Gnome at some point.
mouser:
Google is asking developers to contribute to the Chrome extensions gallery -- an act that will put third party applications on both the Chrome browser and eventually the operating system. Developers can contribute to the project by uploading their creations to the Developer Dashboard.-zridling (November 24, 2009, 12:16 PM)
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this might be a good time to remind people that making an addon for a program will qualify as a NANY entry.
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