Google Chrome OS: speed, simplicity, security

By on Nov 19, 2009 at 3:01 PM
Software November 19, 2009

Screen shot 2009-11-19 at 1.31.58 PM

Well kids, Google has just released some serious information about the much anticipated Chrome OS at today’s webcast, so grab some popcorn and buckle up, ’cause here we go. Google Chrome OS has a radically different approach to computing, and assumes that most of what you want to do on your computer involves your web browser and internet connectivity — and when we think about it, are they so wrong? Those of you who were expecting an Android type interface are going to be sorely disappointed, as the Chrome browser, in a nutshell, is Chrome OS. So let’s just get this out there right now: this isn’t going to be an OS designed for video editing, Photoshopping, or 3D modeling. This is a lightweight conduit for access to online information and utilities. No doubt all of this has piqued your interest, so hit the jump to check out the full story.

Main UI

Google has said flat out they designed the Chrome OS with three things in mind: speed, simplicity, and security, so we are going break down some of the finer points they touched upon under these pretenses.

Speed

Several times Google engineers stated that turning on your Chrome OS powered netbook should be like turning on a television; hit the power button and within a couple seconds you should be browsing. They have been focusing on this and working hard to improve upon it. Currently Chrome OS’ cold boot time is 7 seconds to the login window, with an additional 3 seconds for user login making for a total boot time of 10 seconds. Not bad. Google is hoping to have that time shaved down even further by the time they are ready for release.

Simplicity

Your information is stored in the cloud. No user bits are going to be stored on the modest solid state hard drive that all Chrome OS netbooks are going to come with. While this may be a terrifying prospect to some, it does afford Google some flexibility to rework the traditional computing work flow. There are no application updates to be installed, no backup solutions needed, and no maintenance operations to perform. When you login to the could you can be sure that your Chrome OS netbook is up to date, patched, and ready to go. The main interface, to the shagrin of many we’re sure, is also very simple in that it’s a Chrome browser window. You can customize shortcuts and favorites, but the foundation UI isn’t going to blow anyone’s socks off with eye candy.

Security

This was really getting hammered upon. Security is accomplished in two main ways: architecture setup and the cloud. First and foremost there are three partitions setup on the Chrome OS’ SSD drive, a root partition (which is read-only and holds the OS), a user partition (which by default is encrypted), and a swap partition. When you boot Chrome OS it checks the integrity of the OS and if it finds that your OS has somehow been corrupted or compromised by maleware, it simply re-downloads a fresh copy of the OS from the intertubes. All on its own. Again, your information is in the cloud and the system is technically stateless, so the OS can be restored at point in time without any detriment to user data.

We know that a lot of you have some burning questions and want to see the UI in action, so have a couple videos queued up. Go ahead, we know you’re curious.

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  • meh

    This 7 seconds to boot! Very cool!

    Ok, it doesn’t do games, photoshop, etc, so what? I have a ton of other computers that will do all of that.

    What I want is a device that I can carry around and get on the cloud fast! This would do it!

    Now, if I could just have it in a tablet form, maybe? On the cheap Please!

    Or maybe I would go for a cheap Netbook, say $150? Yeah, I’d buy that!

  • daknarr

    …but I DO use my PC for more than just web surfing. I don’t have a need for a netbook…I have a smartphone for that. I’m sorry, but the web browser is NOT the first icon I click once booted. Is 45 or however long it takes for a reasonable PC to boot really too long? Really? Cloud computing is interesting and fun, but I can only trust it but so far. I am REALLY satisfied with Win7, so I think I’m OS sated for a good while.

  • Chris the Cynic

    I wonder.will Chrome the browser be the only available browser on Chrome OS? I’ve tried it on a couple of my computers and was not much impressed.

  • JERRY

    @DAKNARR ..

    Then it is not for you … I dont think it’s trying to get the mass market yet… but It’s trying to change people’s perception of what a computer should be

    It’s a hard task.. but we’ll see..

    • Carmen

      Agreed. I don’t think that it will work for everyone, but if you look at the six things that they mention in the “sketch” video, that’s pretty much all that most people use their computer for anyway. It won’t work as a main computer for certain people, but it would be a good secondary machine. I use the google apps so it will be great for me.

  • Diabl0

    Unfortunately, not everything we want is on the web just yet. That’s not going to radically change in one year, and not even Google can change that – So true wired.. :D

    In the end we will always be have a choice chrome OS for our old trusty OS in our netbooks. For me, I’ll choose chrome for my netbook. But I try to stayaway from the propaganda for using Chrome on desktop in the near future.. :(

    Opinions on chrome: http://bit.ly/google-chrome-os-best-or-worst-judge-it

    • http://www.webcamwithmicrophone.org John Smith

      thanks for point

  • lulu

    So will there be a proper adblock plugin for Chrome? I didn’t think so either.

  • Mick

    I am not up on the proper wording but,

    I like the idea of Cloud storage, i do, how ever when at those times with out internet connection, its useless.

    Why not similiar to Microsofts (My Phone) service?
    Where it clones the information and stores it cloud side an leaves you with full access to your media.

    This missing (To me) feature kills it for me.

  • Mick

    Maybe thats what it does do under the encrypted partition, can anyone clarify this or that?

    If so, oops, my bad.

  • Eric

    I believe by the time of release, Chrome OS should have the features currently present in Chrome the browser right (incl the developer channel that is)? Sth like…

    Offline synchronization mode for the core user data e.g. Gmail, Google docs, contacts, bookmarks, etc

    Extension support to allow a lot more flexibility, e.g. IE tab, Ad block, etc

    Chrome OS should be much more usable given these functionality ~ At least we’d still have a (minimally) functioning netbook while we are off-the-cloud~

    Btw, I do think the mobile operator would love the Chrome OS idea, and therefore pushing it hard — imagine a netbook/tablet that would get crippled whenever it’s off the cloud, and imagine the steady ARPU brought about by an unlimited 3G / LTE plan~

  • Brent

    Hm, since there isn’t going to be a hard drive, what will I store all my downloaded porn image onto?

  • BigDave

    In what way is it a Mac? I think what you meant to say was “So basically I’m an IDIOT.”

  • http://bmq.blogspot.com Bayan

    You can now try it out on a VM if you’re interested. Steps can be found here:

    http://bmq.blogspot.com/2009/11/try-chrome-os-today.html

  • http://www.adslviettel.com adsl viettel

    This OS still not has enought function for normal user :(

  • http://twitter.com/yshuaben Richard A. Paul

    I love the chrome browser, my question is will the OS version allow for an FME? if it does, then I think I would prefer the OS over even windows7, maninly because win7 is resource intensive.

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