vendredi 17 juillet 2009

Google Chrome OS can't be perfectly secure

Google's plan to release a Chrome-based OS next year has garnered the expected fanfare that comes with anything the company announces. I've also seen articles in which people at Google are quoted as saying the OS will be free from malware and immune to malicious hackers. My gut feeling is that these folks were misquoted. I don't think anyone with serious experience in this field would make that sort of claim -- but I could be wrong.

Whether or not they said it, the question remains: Is it truly possible for the search giant to accomplish what no other company has and release a perfectly secure OS? The answer: Probably not. (For the sake of full disclosure, I'm a security architect at Microsoft.)
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mardi 14 juillet 2009

Why the first Chrome netbooks may not be so revolutionary

Acer and Lenovo will be among the first to release netbooks running Google’s Chrome OS. These netbooks, which will be dual-boot systems with Windows XP as well, could be available as early as next month in some markets, according to several reports. HTC, the smartphone manufacturer, could also release a branded Chrome OS netbook.

If the reports are accurate (there’s a lot of confusion over Chrome versus Android), that would be a big change in the timetable for the Chrome OS. Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently said that computer companies will announce products before the end of this year. Prior to that, Google had said netbooks based on Chrome would not be available until the second half of 2010.

In early June, Acer was the first to announce that it would release a netbook running Google’s Android. But a lot has changed in a month. Despite the hype, there were signs the industry was backing away from Android. Executives from chipmakers ARM and Nvidia suggested that Android still needed a lot more work. Then Google surprised the world by announcing a separate platform, Chrome OS, designed for “Web-centric” devices such as netbooks.

Like Android, the Chrome OS is based on Linux, but it is strictly for Web-based applications. Google is targeting devices that sound very similar to what Qualcomm refers to as smartbooks–small netbooks or Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) that boot instantly and are always online. Qualcomm worked with Google on the first Android smartphone, HTC’s G1 for T-Mobile, and is also working with Google on Chrome OS, which will run on mobile devices with either ARM or Intel x86 chips. Other companies involved with Chrome include Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo and Toshiba. Intel recently added itself to this list.
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Will Google Chrome OS Help With Digital Divide?

Published by Babar Bhatti on July 14, 2009 02:00 am under Emerging Markets Telecom, Google, ICT, Information Technology, Social Networks
All this competition between giant software makers is good for consumers, common wisdom says. It will certainly help Google to drive more traffic to its search engine. What is the side impact of this emphasis on web activity? Will users in developing countries be better off? What will the new Google Chrome do to the Open source software? To push usage in Pakistan we need a few basics:

cheaper hardware (subsidized netbooks)
light OS which gets the job done without much overhead and admin costs (should make piracy irrelevant)
software which works both online and offline; does not need broadband all the time
mobile versions available
local networks, local content, local schools
I think if Google Chrome OS does what it promise, then it will see huge uptake. The world is definitely ready to try another OS. Too bad Linux did not make it on its own (poor usability and a big attitude) but hopefully Chrome has learned from that failure. However this will be one tough thing for Google to do and it will have to show real focus - something which has been missing from its other products which remained in beta for eternity.

Google apps has been one of the popular online suite and now there has been news about Office live in 2010. The OS battle will eventually spill over to the whole personal computing. The article below has some background of the battle.

Chrome OS is also trying to redefine the idea of what a computer operating system should be. In a blog post Tuesday night, Google said the operating system would have the ability to boot up and let users get online in just seconds and new security features, addressing sore points for some users of PCs that run Microsoft Windows. Google is also betting customers will gravitate toward online software that requires an Internet connection, as opposed to conventional PC programs that are downloaded and installed.

Chrome OS is initially aimed at inexpensive laptops known as netbooks; it is expected to be available in the second half of next year. But Google also said it expects the software to eventually be used on other computers, too.

Read More at : http://telecompk.net/2009/07/14/google-chrome-os-pakistan/

Google names Chrome OS partners

Google followed up on Thursday's announcement of a Linux-based Chrome OS for netbooks by listing nine technology partners that are supporting the open-source platform. Meanwhile, one report claims that Intel, which is not on the list, is collaborating with Google on Chrome OS.


Read More at http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS9174113805.html?kc=rss

Google Announces Chrome OS

Alas, poor Microsoft. First Google dominates the search engine market. Then Google enters the Web-based e-mail market. Android invades Windows Mobile's turf. And then Google jumps into the browser market with Chrome. Tonight Google has upped the ante yet again with its plans for a new operating system based on Google Chrome.

The new operating system, aptly named Google Chrome OS, will be an open-source operating system initially geared toward netbooks, Google announced in a blog posting late Tuesday evening.

Google claims the new operating system, which should ship on netbooks starting in the second half of next year, will be "lightweight" and heavily Web-centric.

With Chrome OS, Google plans to follow the same formula it used with its browser: "Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds," Google stated in its announcement. "The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web."

Google will also make security a high priority with Chrome. The company notes it will be "going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work." As you might assume, that is a pretty ambitious goal, considering every current operating system sees its fair share of security flaws and patches.

Chrome OS will run on x86-based PCs, as well as machines built around the ARM processor (such as so-called smartbooks).

So what does this mean for Android? According to Google, Chrome OS is in no way connected to Android, and that while Android was created with smartphones, netbooks, and other devices in mind, Chrome OS "is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web" and will be able to run on practically any PC that meets the minimum requirements, ranging from netbooks on the low-end to high end power desktops.

When Google first introduced the Chrome browser last year, I remarked in my review that "In the past there has been some speculation that Google would develop its own operating system, but I think that Chrome's launch makes one thing is clear: The Web browser is Google's operating system."

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