Microsoft, Other Rivals Slam Google Chrome OS 324
CWmike writes "Microsoft is, predictably, not all that impressed by Google Inc.'s demonstration of its upcoming Chrome OS. 'From what was shared, it appears to be in the early stages of development,' a Microsoft spokeswoman said. 'From our perspective, however, our customers are already voicing their approval of the way Windows 7 just works — across the Web and on the desktop, and on all sizes and types of PCs — purchasing twice as many units of Windows 7 as we've sold of any other operating system over a comparable time.' But neither were potential rivals who make Linux and instant-on operating systems. Chrome OS claimed 7-second boot times and the ability to run Web apps within another 3 seconds, which failed to impress Woody Hobbs, president and CEO of Phoenix Technologies, a long-time BIOS software maker that has re-invented itself with a Linux-based instant-on OS called HyperSpace. 'Instant-on is about being able to access your Internet applications in one second. Seven seconds is too long,' Hobbs said. 'There is no such thing as "cold boot" for today's mobile PCs such as netbooks and smartbooks. You should be able to use your netbook like you use your smartphone — a press of a button and you are "on."' Mark Lee, CEO of DeviceVM Inc., said Google's favoritism towards its own browser and Web apps could rub some users the wrong way, especially those outside of the US. 'In China, users prefer Baidu, not Google,' Lee said. DeviceVM's Splashtop platform boots into Firefox within seconds and uses Yahoo or Baidu as default search engines instead of Google."
Attack boot time? (Score:5, Informative)
IMO the key selling points for chrome are:
1) Zero user maintenance
2) Security (the thing is even resistant against user-space malware), even Linux distros are years away from sand-boxing desktop apps
3) Simple UI
Instant-On Smartphones? (Score:3, Informative)
Droid gives you more features and more convenience - plus you don't have to take 7 seconds to boot.
I'll admit I don't have a Droid - I have the G1 - but a 7 second boot would be far superior to what I experience.
What are people talking about with 'instant on smartphones'? The only thing 'instant-on' that I've seen is turning the screen back on. If you ever have to actually reboot the thing it takes at a least a MINUTE (haven't timed it, could be longer).
Re:Dang! (Score:4, Informative)
there are a lot of corporate workers out there that do their daily thing via citrix or similar remote desktop access...
It's definitely a fast boot, (Score:4, Informative)
Re:At least SplashTop is reasonable (Score:3, Informative)
I don't know about your mom and pop, but mine also do finances/checkbook balancing, keep track of medical information, play games, all in addition to doing web and email.
Most of those they want to keep off the cloud.
Re:Play ChromeOS (Data) Jeopardy! (Score:5, Informative)
I'm surprised this got modded up so much.
Alex: For $100, "specific segment of hardware that Google is aiming for".
Me: Who are people too cheap to spend $200 on a netbook?.
Hey parents of new college freshmen, here's a $200 laptop that'll take notes in class, play movies and TV, do email, surf the web, and run both google's online office suite and Microsoft's so your kid can do homework. Oh, and it'll have a hundredth of the virus issues you other kid's HP laptop did. You're welcome.
Alex: The answer is "it obsoleted ChromeOS a year before ChromeOS was supposed to be delivered"
Me: What is Droid?
You think ChromeOS is a bad idea, but porting a cell phone OS back to PC is an obvious success? Really?
Alex: The answer is "Business".
Me: Who won't be using ChromeOS?
Hey businesses who moved all their internal apps to ASP.net years ago, here's a $200 client for all of those. You'll never have to roll out software to it. Enjoy.
Alex: They both don't let you run your apps your way.
Me: How is a ChromeOS-based computer like a Tivo?
Open source operating system. What can't you do your way?
Alex: The answer is, "100 times as much."
Me: How much more profit will Apple make off each computer it sells compared to vendors of ChromeOS-based computers.
Why can't people make money off of these machines? Hardware suddenly becomes unprofitable when you install ChromeOS on it?
ChromeOS bonus question, "We welcome our cloud-based data overlords", "In Soviet Russia, Chrome browses YOU" and "You can have my data when you pry it from my cold dead hands."
Me: What were the three most popular ChromeOS privacy FAIL slogans?
Again, it's an open source OS. If you don't like Google's shit, point it somewhere else. What's the problem?
Re:Play ChromeOS (Data) Jeopardy! (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, it's already a flop. If the Droid hadn't come out, maybe I'd be a little less harsh, but the fact is that this is a "solution" with no problem. Everything that ChromeOS can do, a smartphone can do, a Wii can do, a netbook can do, a desktop can do, a computer recovered from the dumpster can do ...
Who is the market for these things? Certainly not netbook users. For a couple of hundred bucks they'll be able to get a much more full-featured "real netbook." 2nd computer for business users (which is what the PC world article pitched it as) ... totally ridiculous. They'll use a smartphone before they use that. Or they'll add a second monitor and use the same apps that ChromeOS makes available on a second screen, if it's screen real estate and productivity that are the issues. People too poor to spend $200 on a netbook? So, if they can't come up with $200 for a netbook, what makes them think that they'll be able to pay for net access fast enough to support downloading their apps every time they boot? And no advertiser is going to want to pay for their search queries. Dead market.
They're going to have to really change direction with this. Make it into a general OS, with Chrome as the default browser. Otherwise, forget it. Stillbirth.
Re:Play ChromeOS (Data) Jeopardy! (Score:3, Informative)
"Gee, thanks, but it doesn't run the software I need for my classes. Can you return it, and I'll put the money towards a mac | linux | winbox ? Also, I need something with a bigger screen, and more storage. This doesn't cut it."
I think you had a brain fart on that one. I'm saying it's a FAIL.
"Here's a free linux DVD that converts your obsolete hardware to a thin client."
... and ...
"ChromeOS is missing the plugins and functionality I need!"
You also have access to Tivo's source code. Way to miss the point, and good luck with that.
Netbooks are already razor-thin in terms of profit margin. Manufacturers have to sell 100 (or more) netbooks to net the same profit Apple makes off of 1 laptop. Look at Apple's cash balance. they NET 10% profit on every sale. A $2000 laptop is $200.00 NET, after all expenses. Netbooks? $200, 5% gross margin. Say 2% net. That's $4.00. So, to compete, a netbook running ChromeOS has to be even cheaper, which means even lower margins. That $4.00 per unit becomes $2.00 - or even less, because at the lower end, even a small incremental cost will kill you. 1 warranty support call kills the profit from a dozen other sales. 1 return kills 100. What are you going to do - try to refurb an returned ChromeOS "appliance" - they're just too damn cheap to be worth the effort.
Open source has nothing to do with ChromeOS being a FAIL. Both my desktop and laptop are linux boxes. I'm thinking that I really want a Droid for my next cell phone. But ChromeOS? There's no business case for it. Thin client? Sun already mined that with SunRay. Netbooks? The market is already saturated, with full-featured ones at the $250 price point. So, are they going to sell this for $100? By the time it comes out in the
Re:Dang! (Score:2, Informative)
Everything I've thrown at the Desktop and the Netbook so far run perfectly. Desktop is 10.5.6 (for now) and Netbook is 10.6.1 (for now)