CHROMEBOOKS @ GOOGLE I/O 2011
Vidit Bhargava
Chromebooks come with Chrome OS. Obviously the name suggests that the OS is for the web, on the cloud. Its a cloud OS, like the one we had discussed in our last edition (JoliCloud OS). However Chrome OS only runs on "Chromebooks". Chromebooks completely eliminate the things between you and the internet. Very Little Startup time (8 seconds), No BIOS, No Desktop: just the browser comes on screen as soon as you start your computer. Web-apps are obvious, and there are plenty at the Chrome Web-store. Also, let us not forget this is Google. And Hence you are always signed in to your GMAIL Account, and get all those spicy-google accounts features.
Being on the Cloud does help this operating system based notebook. You get a lot of space (Google Markets it as More than any PC in the world, quite true). Also since everything is on the cloud, loosing the laptop or breaking it doesn't matter much. You still have all the files intact. (With your installed Webapps).
Security: This is where Chromebooks smash the PCs hard. They employ the principle of "defense in depth" to provide multiple layers of protection, including sandboxing, data encryption, and verified boot. This should make it much more difficult for viruses to attack your netbook.
WebApps: We've discussed a lot about them in our review of JoliCloud. You get almost everything on WebApps. Office Suits, Music Players, Picture Viewers, Games, But still a lot of things are missing, for example the lack of Programming tools, which is a big-drawback and looses on a lot of students. Also the lack of a good photo-editor pinches a lot. And Finally not many mainstream softwares and games come in the form of WebApps.
Currently Samsung and Acer are making Chromebooks. Orders for them will start on the 15th of June 2011. Both of them have Intel Dual Core Atom Processors, which I guess, should serve well for the Chromebook users, since all of their work will be on the net. Other Specifications include a full sized chrome keyboard, HDMI ports, USB Ports, Web Camera and 3G + Wifi. Chromebooks suprisingly don't sport a very good battery life i.e. 6-8 hours, this is lesser than an iPad, lesser than the Macbooks and obviously lesser than the standards. Now obviously since Chromebooks don't have to do much work, They should have had a better battery life atleast. Given that they are in the middle of the battle, fighting notebooks and tablets at the same time.
Conclusion: Chromebooks might just be the best Netbooks, they might even Revolutionize the netbook market but whether they are at all going to be helpful to the user, still needs to be seen.