Yet Another Operating Sys to Worry About

[Oxide Blu]

Like I don't wake up in the middle of the night often enough worrying if a PC is better than an Apple, or should I make the move to a Linux OS, now this:


SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) - Google Inc is declaring war on Microsoft Corp by seeking to unseat the software giant's globally dominant Windows operating system for personal computers.

Google, which already offers a suite of e-mail, Web and other software products that compete with Microsoft, said on Tuesday it would launch a new operating system for computers ranging from ultra-compact netbooks to full-size desktop PCs.

Called the Google Chrome Operating System, the new software will be in netbooks for consumers in the second half of 2010, Google said in a blog post, adding that it was working with multiple manufacturers. ...

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE5670VT20090708


What is an insomniac to do?!?

 

[Tim]

I've been doing Apple support since the Apple II+. I saw the release of the Lisa and repaired Mac 128Ks all the way though to the iMac. In about 1996 I picked up a lot of PC support and that is mainly all I do these days. IMNSHO (in my not so humble opinion) there is little difference between a Mac and PC. Competition between them has seen to that. Neither system is particularly unreliable IMO, most issues stem from the myriad of accessories drivers and software that surround them.

In the final analysis buy what you feel most comfortable with and can get support for. Don't worry about it and just use them for the tools they are.

 

[Ranger 9]

If you read farther into the articles, you'll find that the "new" operating system is just Linux with a user interface based on Google's Chrome browser on top of it.

That's an interesting approach for netbooks, which need a lightweight OS -- but whether it'll eventually be of any interest to the photo mainstream will depend on the vendors of all the third-party devices we need to use. Third-party device support in Linux is still kind of janky, IMO.

So if I were you, I'd go back to sleep on this one for now and wait for someone else to sort it out.

 

[Oxide Blu]

IMNSHO (in my not so humble opinion) there is little difference between a Mac and PC.

The significant differences that I see between a Mac and a PC are at a much lower level -- the processor designs (Intel and Motorola getting around each other's patents), not something a user needs to think about ... and the file structure -- does the meta data go into the data file (PC) or alone side it (Mac). Again, probably inspired by copyright/patent considerations, and not something the user needs to think about.

Fwiw, I'm now trying to avoid all things Google because Google copies and saves everything -- EVERYTHING. I use Gmail (looking for an alt email application) and noticed that whenever I attach a file or image in a message I am composing, the status light for the internet connection goes active during the short delay when an image is being attached. The image is being downloaded to Google's server!!! Note: this is when a msg is being COMPOSED, not when SENDING. Sending the msg is very quick (the attached image is already on Google's server). So what happens when I remove an image before sending email??? Google saves everything -- does that include saving a copy of my image they downloaded while I was composing the msg, but removed before sending???

 

[Tim]

The significant differences that I see between a Mac and a PC are at a much lower level

Yes, I can agree at the lower levels there are significant differences, I guess I should have qualified myself more buy saying, with reliability and user issues I see very little levels of difference. Macs give me as much grief with problems as do PCs. The problems are often a little different but IMO the support level is about the same - maybe its just my users?!

As for the OS, yes Apple do quite some things different, resource forks and the like, FAT tables just to name a few - I if a Mac suits better, I say go for it, I am no longer brand centric with computers.

As for Google and their retention of data I had quite some friends jump off Facebook as I understand they do much the same thing. I wonder if Yahoo mail keep all your data?

 

[Thawley]

I'm new here so I won't post any off color quotes about this. But there are some gems that I enjoyed at FakeSteveJobs.com

 

[Oxide Blu]

:ROTFL: :ROTFL: :ROTFL:

I love the way logic is intertwined with sarcasm.

 

[shakeshuck]

I stopped playing with Linux because kernel 'upgrades' kept breaking things that had worked perfectly beforehand.

I used FreeBSD for a couple of years, but that's become dangerous in my eyes; not quite as stable as it used to be, and on my laptop it has a habit of taking the file system with it when it falls over. Not nice.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Netbooks these days are getting more powerful, my Asus EeePC 1000HE is powerful enough to make running XP no problem at all, LR and bridge are OK actually. Apparently Windows 7 will be even faster on 'lite' computers. As the price of SSD's drop and the processors in netbooks get more powerful methinks that this kind of OS is far more suited to cellphone computing than even basic netbooks. The regular consumer does not want to have to use one OS for his phone, one for his netbook, another for his wifes laptop and a fourth for his desktop.