Chrome OS
Almost a week ago, I applied to Chrome OS pilot program through this link. There is nothing special with the application, it is more like a survey about how you use your computer. Today, I found a box on my doorstep. First I thought it might be a Christmas gift from my girlfriend, but when I took the Cr-48 out of the box I was shocked. After a quick glance at the manual, I turned on my new toy 
The hardware is very primitive. It has Intel Atom N455 1.66Ghz, 2gigs of ram, 1 usb, 1 VGA input and a webcam The only problem I had so far is related to the touchpad. It is really flaky. Technically, it is similar to Mac’s trackpad, but it is very far from that quality. I am sure there will be a software fix at least for the sensitivity issue. The cursor moves as you click on the mouse button which is quite annoying.
You can get some sort of a limited terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+t, but it supports very few commands most of which are ‘ssh’ or network related. I have been playing with it for only half an hour now, so I need to look into that a little more. I am sure there is a way to get a real terminal.
The operating system is very easy to use. Well.. Basically, you are using Google Chrome. It was really easy to switch because I was synchronizing everything; the bookmarks, apps, extensions, history, etc. I took a look at the Web Store for applications and I want to try some of them tonight. I am pretty sure they have almost everything for general use. Google Docs, Google Calendar, etc. are already very convenient.
OK, I’ve gotta go and test this brand new toy. I’ll tell the rest of the story later. Considering this OS is merely for general applications, I can see why people might want to use it. It is fast, very lightweight and hence does not require any special hardware which makes it economical (well, the OS itself is free anyway). Maybe it is still not the right time to switch to this type of operating system, but considering the recent cloud based developments and emerging services, I think it might be a hint about what kind of technology we will face in the new decade.
Oh, wait.. Here is a snapshot of the funny safety warning flyer. As you see, the first sentence is “Don’t panic”
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December 24, 2010 at 5:27 pm
First impressions of Google Chrome OS and Cr-48 « Ertan’s scribbles
[...] Systems, Technology | Tags: Chrome OS, CR-48, crosh, Developer Mode, Google, shell In my earlier post, I promised to write more about the Chrome OS and Cr-48 and here I am. First of all I had the [...]