Webware

Google Chrome OS, due in the second half of 2010, underscores the Web giant's cloud-computing ambitions and opens new competition with Microsoft.

What Chrome OS has on Windows that Linux doesn't

Because the Web is already a powerful force, Google's OS project has a leg up over would-be Microsoft challengers such as Linux. But has its own issues.
(Posted in Webware by Stephen Shankland)
July 9, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

Why Chrome OS? Google says, why not?

Google says it is building Chrome OS because it wants to improve the experience of using a computer. Of course, getting more people to spend their lives online and searching can't hurt.
(Posted in Webware by Tom Krazit)
July 8, 2009 4:06 PM PDT

Analyzing Google's Chrome OS strategy

The forthcoming Chrome OS will be technically straightforward, but why Google is doing an OS in the first place is a little less obvious.
(Posted in Speeds and feeds by Peter N. Glaskowsky)
July 9, 2009 5:31 AM PDT

ARM chip camp sees Google Chrome as opportunity

Texas Instruments and Qualcomm executives talk about the opportunities they see with the Google Chrome operating system.
(Posted in Nanotech: The Circuits by Brooke Crothers)
July 8, 2009 10:10 PM PDT

Google reveals its Chrome OS cohorts

The company names software, PC, and chipmakers it's working with on its new operating system.
(Posted in Crave by Erica Ogg)
July 8, 2009 3:28 PM PDT

CNET News Poll

Reflections on Chrome
What was your first reaction to Google Chrome OS?

Microsoft is toast.
Google is the new Microsoft.
I'll be all Google all the time.
Meh. I'm happy with Mac OS.
Linux under the hood. Hurrah!

View results

What will Google's Chrome OS watch you do?

Google's announcement of the Chrome OS is big news, but what will the ramifications for privacy be? We take a look at Google's privacy track record on some of its other products and services.
• Does Google's OS decrease or increase security risks?
(Posted in Webware by Josh Lowensohn)
July 8, 2009 1:05 PM PDT

What Google's Chrome OS means for Netbooks, and why Microsoft shouldn't worry...yet

We're always in favor of more consumer choice and potentially lower prices, but here's why it's not quite time for Microsoft to worry about losing its firm hold on the Netbook market.
• Why Chrome OS doesn't matter--or does it?
(Posted in Crave by Dan Ackerman)
July 8, 2009 10:28 AM PDT

Mr. Schmidt, step down from that board

Eric Schmidt's role as a board member of both Google and Apple is now untenable given Google's plans to develop a personal computer operating system.
(Posted in Webware by Tom Krazit)
July 8, 2009 10:22 AM PDT

To challenge Google, Microsoft might want to think Apple

Redmond's challenge is to prove the Windows experience is worth paying for. If it is looking for a game plan, it might want to look at how the Mac has tackled the PC.
• Google's Linux fork may not trouble Microsoft
• No thanks, Google--we've got Ubuntu
(Posted in Beyond Binary by Ina Fried)
July 8, 2009 10:14 AM PDT

Google to Microsoft: It's on

With the announcement of the Chrome OS, Google has taken complete aim at Redmond's empire. But there are still plenty of reasons why Windows might not be dead man walking.
(Posted in Beyond Binary by Ina Fried)
July 8, 2009 2:45 AM PDT

Google plans Chrome-based Web operating system

Watch out, Microsoft: Google's browser project is the foundation for a Web-based operating system. Chrome OS Netbooks are due in 2010.
• Chrome's new-tab page gets more interactive
• Google Apps shed beta label
• Security expert blesses Google Native Client technology
(Posted in Webware by Stephen Shankland)
July 7, 2009 10:16 PM PDT

Microsoft's Gazelle browser takes a radical path

In an exclusive interview, CNET News talks with the researcher behind Microsoft's effort to make the browser more like an OS.
(Posted in Beyond Binary by Ina Fried)
July 7, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

Wednesday's two big technology stories--Google's Chrome-based operating system and cyberattacks against U.S. and South Korean government Web sites are oddly related. The stories are connected because if Google does well at gaining market share for its browser, we could see fewer successful attacks. Or maybe we'll see more attacks.

The reason hackers succeeded in launching denial-of-service attacks against government computers in the U.S. and South Korea is because they were able to enlist an army of "zombie" computers to carry out the attack. And what do those computers likely have in common? The vast majority of them likely run Microsoft Windows.

Whether Windows is inherently less secure than Mac OS X or Linux is debatable, but one thing is for sure--it's more popular and therefore a more attractive target to hackers. Indeed with nearly 90 percent of the world's PCs running Windows, it's something of a "single point of failure." Figure out how to infect Windows PCs and you can stage a very successful attack.

Linux--which is the underpinning of Google Chrome--is not entirely exempt from malicious software but historically Linux machines are less likely to be infected. So it stands to reason that the more machines running non-Windows software, the safer we'll all be.

But there's another side to this story. The Chrome OS will be far more Web-centric than Windows, which means that many--if not most--of its applications will be running over the Internet. What's more, people's data will be stored "in the cloud," much of it on servers run by Google. So while Google may help reduce Microsoft's potential as a single point of failure, it increases its own. If hackers were successful in launching an attack on Google, that would affect not only people's ability to use Google apps, but the integrity of their data.

Although there weren't any reported data breaches, there was a day in May of this year when Google sites were partially inaccessible as a result of a technical glitch. On that day, millions of people were unable to use Google services, including Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Say what you want about Microsoft, but even if the company totally shut down its Web operations, its operating system and PC applications would still run.

Personally, I'm a big believer in competition and like cloud computing, so I welcome Google's entry into the operating system arena. But like almost anything worthwhile, it's not without risk.

gOS--a company known for its debut in the $199 Wal-Mart gPC and Netbooks--announced Wednesday the details of gOS 3 Gadgets, the newest version of its Linux operating system for consumers.

The San Francisco-based company made the announcement at LinuxWorld Expo.

The main feature of gOS 3 Gadgets is its ability to instantly launch Google Gadgets for Linux on start-up, allowing users access to more than 100,000 iGoogle and Google Gadgets applications. These applications, though graphically rich, are small enough to be added to the computer in seconds over an Internet broadband connection. The new operation system will also be loaded with WINE 1.0, Lightweight X Desktop Environment (LXDE), and other Google software for Linux to improve the user experience.

While WINE has been known to allows users to use thousands of Windows applications on Linux platform, LXDE is a renewed effort to develop more lightweight desktop applications for Linux environment. By supporting LXDE, gOS 3 Gadgets, apart from desktops, would also make a good choice for ultra small mobile laptops, which are generally suffer from having slow hard drives and processors.

In addition to Google Gadgets for Linux, gOS 3 Gadgets can also run other Google applications more well-known in Windows platform including Google Desktop, Google Picasa, Google Earth and Google Maps. In the new gOS 3 Gadgets, other Google's web-based applications such as Documents, Calendar, and Mail launch have a closer appearance and functionality to desktop applications than other platforms.

Tomorrow may be the day OS X Leopard makes its way out to the unwashed masses, but we were lucky enough to get our hands on a (legal) copy of the operating system earlier this morning directly from the mother ship in Cupertino. Besides the snazzy new look and feel, the big things we wanted to get our hands on were all the Web features we've been drooling over. We picked four that we think people are actually going to use, including Web Clips, RSS feed reading in the new Mail app, Web search history in Spotlight, and Wikipedia as a part of the Dictionary application.

Just narrowly missing the cut was the GPS feature in preview, which we think is cool, but definitely not quite mainstream until more cameras get GPS integration. In perfect conditions, assuming your photo has GPS bearings in its metadata, you'll be able to see where it is on a Google Map, which we wrote about earlier this week.

Enjoy the video, and if you're picking up a copy of Leopard for yourself, be sure to check these new features out. For more Leopard News, visit CNET's Leopard page.