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SHIFT: Google Chrome signals the death of the Operating System
Someday soon, you may not even notice which operating system your computer is using. That broadband-connected machine may not have an operating system on board at all, at least not like Windows and Mac OS X are today. That's because there's a new kid on the block, but he's not even on your block at all, but storing your data and running applications based somewhere else, out there, on the Internet — or as it's more commonly referred to, "in the cloud."
Google's doing all it can to expedite that exodus, pounding its latest nail into the coffin of conventional earth-bound operating systems with a web browser called Chrome. With architecture that runs Javascript web applications as separate services, it's fast, and primed to make it easier to compute in the cloud. This could be the beginning of the end of the operating system as we know it, and that won't come a moment too soon.
Head in the clouds
Some applications are tailor-made for cloud computing, and the best, most popular example of that is Gmail. You access Gmail's interface in any browser, and all your email is stored on Google's servers, giving you 7GB of free storage for all your messages and their associated attachments. Using Google's renowned search prowess, you can easily find important info in those emails using simple keywords. Even better, you don't need to worry about backing up anything, and you can access your email from just about any connected computer, as long as it has a browser.
The best part of Gmail's cloud computing: tapping into the wisdom of crowds. With Gmail, you'll never have to deal with spam again, because Gmail's millions of users each have the ability to report spam, instantly inoculating all the other users from it. The downside: there are ads running down the right side of every email you receive, but it gets to the point where you never even notice them.
Enter Chrome
The benefits of cloud computing are extending far beyond Gmail, with useful apps such as entire Microsoft Office-like application suites Zoho Office Suite and ThinkFree Office, a free online version of Adobe Photoshop, powerful FitDay weight loss software, Quicken Online for personal finance, and a whole lot more mostly free choices. Here's where Google Chrome comes in. With its ultra-fast compartmentalized approach to running Javascript, the programming language that makes all this neato stuff happen, Chrome makes Javascript a much more attractive platform. Chrome is so powerful, even in its infancy, it breathes new life into Javascript, maybe even pushing aside Adobe Flash and its nascent competitor, Microsoft's Silverlight.
But wait just a second here. Javascript and its streamlined underpinnings in Chrome (and also in upcoming versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer) is not going to completely render operating systems such as Mac OS X, Windows XP, Vista, and Linux obsolete. When running many office-like apps, it'll just make the OS invisible, and some users will stop caring which OS they're running. But that's true only to a point.
Down to Earth
Some applications need to stay close to the hardware, right there on the desktop because of the current impracticality of moving huge amounts of data over the Internet. Games with huge graphics files that must be processed quickly will stay on the desktop for now, high-def video editing applications need to stay local because the gigantic file sizes involved, and for now, processor-intensive apps such as speech recognition do best on the desktop.
Mind your own business
Then there are the security issues. A large number of users aren't comfortable with all their most sensitive data residing on a far-away server that's beyond their control. What if a hacker breaks into a server farm and steals all their data, or what if the government insists on Google giving up that data? The IT departments in many corporations will never submit to a loss of control as significant as this. But for me, I trust Google, am not a vice-presidential candidate, and figure that if the government wants any of my personal data, it can grab it from me at home easier than it can extract it from Google's servers.
Cloud wins in the end
Given all that, the cloud still wins in the end, and Chrome leads the way. I don't think Chrome will be loaded onto PCs without an operating system underneath, at least not for a long while. But someday soon, it'll be available cross-platform, and then you could have a Mac in one room, a PC in another, and another machine running Ubuntu in your vacation chalet in the Swiss Alps, and most of your same apps and data could be available on all of them. Beyond that, when U.S. broadband speed and freedom catches up with the rest of the world, we might be able to do all our computing online. Maybe the OS won't die tomorrow, but its importance is already starting to shrink so much, that soon it won't even matter anymore.
By Benedict at 12:32 AM ON 09/19/08
ThinkFree will be winner in the clud computing.
Their ThinkFree service i shybrid service that they provide online-offline-mobile-api total productivity environment that will be in the key feature of cloud computing. Free for all
Feel free to use ThinkFree
By Luddor at 1:57 AM ON 09/19/08
Doooodz! What kind of crap are you trying to ram down our throats here? Damned if I'M giving control of MY data up to some corporate beast in the digital ether. Yeah, I s'pose the government can come get it any time it likes, but it'll have to FIND it first--*assuming* I haven't nuked it--and it'll be MINE to confiscate as opposed to Googoyl's or anyone else's. Gee, I guess you forgot to tell your eager readers THAT part of the story. Whatever you upload to a "cloud" someplace becomes the "cloud's (owner's)" property.
You guys can bendova for the "latest fad" all you like, but don't be surprised when you find yourselves at the stump all by yourselves.
By thexfile at 2:52 AM ON 09/19/08
i have chroom and firefox and explorer...
expolorere i hate becouse it goes wrong to much.
firefox i like although the favorite list is to hard , it's either there or not , in that sence explorer is more handy....
and chroom , ... whel what can i say...
it's to dam heavy , it's slower then firefox on the same mashine.... that's why i generaly not use it....
it's nice when they bring stuf out , but they forget that people like me run msn also and have there facebook open at the same time as running that aplication...
and then moast fail and slow up !!
that's why i use firefox...
and yes i have a gmail also yes...
but the thing is , it's a 2 edged sword...
yes it can be handy to have your stuf handy no matter where you are....
but it's a good ploy to expand innternet use...
it's like withe computerchips....
apples can do more withe les computing power then windows based pc's...
just becouse microsoft works withe chip manufacturars and pc makers to sel more pc's and newer stuf.... others the market would get saturated and there would be no growthe....
same withe this , insted google is stimulating internet companies this way....
and this storing of info on "the net" whel yes that is good buisnes for companies that have server space , but that means more energie usage to store that stuf and make it acsesible 24h a day , wich in the end creatse more co2 wich is bad for us....
and in that sence i'm against it....
if google was smart it would go greener not the other side.....
let it's own mapes show us the hidden polution created by it's own programs and users..... !!
By Anonymous at 6:11 AM ON 09/19/08
THEXFILE did you actually try chrome, because it is on average 10 to 20 times faster then any other browser.
In terms of clowd computing, microsoft is working on an OS focused on clowd computing. However, they haven't released any more information on it.
Even though clowd computing is great for office work, it will not actually take off for high performance computer use.
By TheOriginalgiga at 10:41 AM ON 09/19/08
@ Anon: have you looked at your task manager while running Chrome. It opens 4 services for one browser, on mine they average anywhere between 12MB and 40MB each. It is slower for me due to 1GB of RAM. while my firefox has been open all night and it's at 50MB with one open. Don't get me wrong Chrome is nice, but it isn't as fast as you claim.
@TheXFile: you make valid observations, but do you really believe that the carbon footprint of servers storing data will increase dramatically? the server's are already being run, it's more of a question now of what's going to be on them than if they should run them. And what makes you think they aren't working on a greener method of powering their server systems? Google hosts some of the most brilliant people that we have, I'm sure they're working on it if not already are moving to it.
@luddor: one thing you may not have considered was, do you have broadband? if so, what makes you think that your ISP and the federal government can't get into your PC over the net? hackers can, and they have trouble breaking into the FBI systems. So whether or not it's in the cloud or on your desktop it's still easily accessible to them.
Google is trying to add competition to the large corporations and offering us a free solution, so instead of complaining about it, why don't we help them improve, make it better for us. I'm no programmer, but google have lots, and with my idea and all of yours we can add another thorn into the side of the large conglomerations, that's what Linux is, it isn't huge, but it's getting bigger.
Also at all of you, have you heard of spell check? It’s a great feature built into word and chrome and firefox have it too.
By TheAdlerian at 12:24 PM ON 09/19/08
I agree with Luddor.
I'll stop using the internet if it comes that.
By Kyp at 4:29 PM ON 09/19/08
Welcome to 1968. We finally get rid of centralized computing with the advent of the microcomputers and Google wants us to return. This concept is dead before it even starts. The only difference here is asynchronous communications and pretty pictures.
By dude at 5:46 PM ON 09/19/08
I really like the idea of Chrome for a desktop tool to run web applications. I don't think Google meant it to be a "web browser" like IE or Mozilla, that's why it's pretty vanilla. (no RSS and other stuff) I hate applications that are written to only work in IE 5.5 & 6, but won't work in IE7. (oh ya, they're out there) These aren't public web pages, but web based applications on secure servers. THAT is a niche where Chrome could shine. (excuse the pun)
By Murc at 12:40 AM ON 09/20/08
when this browser came out I downloaded it to give it a try...it was...OK.
I switched from IE7 to Firefox around 6 or so months ago...and I like Firefox better then chrome.
and of course IE, I ditch IE because I like to multi-task, I love tabbed browsing...and when I had like 4 or 5 tabs open and important stuff (no, not porn) it would crash...this happened far to often....I haven't had a single crash since I've been using Firefox, I love it.
question? does Firefox (like Chrome & Safari) have a way to use the browser...covertly? possibly a add-on.....I love ad blocker plus & PicLens is nice, it has a great UI.
sorry, I'll get back on topic now.
Google is getting to much power to quickly. Its rumored that Google knows more about YOU then the government.
They can find out what you search for, look at, and even buy. if you use g-mail, they know who your friends and relatives are, if you use their calender they know your schedule. and with Android coming, soon they will be in your pocket...literally.
seriously...how much information to you want one company to have?!
I'm not a conspiracy nut or a paranoid person...just a little more cautious then most.
I use Google as my main search engine...and that's it, no chrome, no g-mail, no android.
No person or company will know everything about me.....I wont give them the chance.
By manty01actual at 8:01 PM ON 09/20/08
Clearly they smoke cat food. This is just the right kind of advertisement for the merely mundane, or the tangenital population that does not have the requisite points in the Quotient to construct their own, portable, freakishly fast and disposable OS for shitz and giggles. But thats ok, all you monster .com's keep making lots of noise and flashing the pretty lights for everyone, our goal is approaching point Zulu, and this won't hurt one little bit.......good day mammals
By Dragonflight at 4:35 AM ON 09/25/08
All of this is really beside the point. The average user will use it when it's perfected because it means they don't have to worry about the integrity of their data. They also won't understand the dangers of leaving their personal information on someone else's system. AS has been pointed out elsewhere, any data on someone else's system is subject to the rules and regulations regarding this. Sure there will be privacy laws and so on, but if someone shows up with a court order, all the personal data will be turned over in a moment. And the user may not even be aware this was done, which would be a flagrant violation of their personal privacy. The advantage for police and security agencies with Cloud Computing is that you don't *have* to notify the individual. Just their service provider.
Those who realize the dangers of having their personal data on other people's machines won't use it. And of course, before everyone starts jumping on the bandwagon about how Chrome is going to "revolutionize" the industry, I've worked call center support in the past, and let me tell you, there are still places in North America where the *telephone* is the only communications technology they've *ever* had, and they're not likely to be getting satellite, DSL, or Broadband anytime soon. Add that to standard corporate security issues, and you wind up with a nice way for the average user who doesn't use their computer for much more than daily email to leave the hassles to the companies. But everyone else (including those with slow or practically nonexistant internet connections) will continue to use standard operating systems.
Google... It's a nice idea, but don't sell yourself on the hype. This is just anothher Java-style presentation to me. When Java was first coming out, this was exactly what people said we could do with it, and exactly how it was supposed to revolutionize the Internet and the way we stored and managed data. Ten years down the road, and Java is used to support small applications and online games. That's about it. And it's already platform-independant as well.
Don't get all worked up about Chrome, people. It's just the latest flash in the pan. Just like Java was.
By DO NOT WANT at 9:06 AM ON 09/25/08
DO NOT WANT...
GOOGLE SHOULD STAY AS A SEARCH ENGINE AND A SEARCH ENGINE ONLY!!!
their browser sucks, tabs don't match with any of the other windows and you can't have adblock plus addon
I'll stick with microsoft thanks i like Vista and i'm quite sure i will like windows 7 too.
By BubbaNasty at 9:35 AM ON 09/25/08
This is just a terrible idea.
By Anonymous at 10:42 AM ON 09/25/08
I am sure people are willing to give this a shot. I mean, who wouldn't want to put his/her warez, videos, music, etc. in Google's servers?
By TRSundown at 11:38 AM ON 09/25/08
This is a bad idea. Its about as bad an idea as designing the internet to funciton like cable TV. The idea sounds pretty good but there will be a cost for everything. There will be a cost if you want more processor power, there will be a cost for every app you want, there will be subscription costs, and storage costs. None of this is going to be free. Its a bad idea. Its turning the internet into a socialistic governing body... not a free entitiy as it should be.
By stavros at 1:31 PM ON 09/25/08
Whoever controls the cloud servers would control the future of independent software development. The cloud would take us back to dumb terminals. You'd never see those neat shareware/freeware apps that we currently all have and love.
By Diggs at 3:18 PM ON 10/12/08
At Theoriginalgiga............have you heard of punctuation and proper use of the English language? And I quote, "Also at all of you, have you heard of spell check? It’s a great feature built into word and chrome and firefox have it too." Firefox have it to? LOL.You also failed to capitalize MANY letters when beginning new sentences.Tsk,tsk,tsk.
By wwarlock at 9:37 PM ON 10/16/08
first @thexfile:
Google already has its servers in a town in Oregon that uses hydroelectricity to power them. So if you want green I think that qualifies.
As for the rest of it:
I think it is giving big brother an in to watching everything we are doing. Even if we only put the programs on the cloud servers then they can still see everything you are watching or doing on your computer easily enough, And with the lobbying that is going on right now (see: http://dvice.com/archives/2008/10/shift_big_broth.php)to shut down P2P networks and content protection issues that just gives them more power to control what we watch and listen to. I mean the lobbyists own point to getting rid of P2P programs is because P2P programs are the reason for net pollution!!! now they want to increase net traffic by putting all our programs and software on the net how is this solving this problem.
As for the program needing an OS underneath it. Well I hate to burst your bubble but does anyone remember the day past with Unix!! when you had noting in front of you but a monitor that had a keyboard stuck out the back of it because all the brains were in the servers somewhere else in the building. It sounds to me like this is the same type of system, just with a lot larger network.
My close:
If it is cheap enough I think for some people it will do them a world of good. Can you imagine your grandparents or your parents for that matter finally not needing to call you every time they mess something up. Or for people that only just want to surf the web and check the news and weather. remember web TV ya it was not the most popular option out there but if it had broadband connection speed who knows. I mean we are hooking our computers up to our TVs on a daily basis. No I am not saying that this works for all of us but for some it would be a good thing, as long as Microsoft and the chip manufacturers and governments don't decide they know what best for us all and start switching over to this. I for one will be on the side that will fight that tooth and nail to see it does not happen.
By HUman at 12:23 PM ON 02/09/09
Technological developments like this don't matter if the company loses the trust of the people who would use it. I personally don't trust Google at all and would never put my documents or information anyplace that they could get at it. If Google wants my trust they will have to EARN it.
By Bean Lauden at 5:53 PM ON 03/07/09
I don't trust Google Chrome, feels like giving all my password to Bush !
By jeet at 2:31 PM ON 04/27/09
well guys cloud's gonna help access google brain....i am up for it...
By efgwetwet at 7:55 AM ON 07/10/09
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