Hello, open source developers. Would you like to help build an operating system for web users?
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Today we announced the Chromium OS project on the Official Google Blog. This release of Chromium OS includes:
We are doing this early, almost a year before Google Chrome OS will be ready for users, because we are eager to engage with open source developers. There are many of you who share our passion for creating a new model of computing. Chromium OS makes it possible for any interested developer to contribute code, ideas and designs to help shape the future of personal computing.
Speed, simplicity and security are fundamental to Chrome OS. We wanted to talk about these areas in a bit more detail.
Speed
Simplicity
Security
Open Source
We expect to publish additional design docs and documentation in the upcoming few months. You can track what we're doing on this blog and we hope you will join us in this effort.
67 comments:
Leon Wang said...
am I the first?
up, up, up
November 19, 2009 11:01 AM
malcoder said...
i'm still thinkin' about security and my privacy in cloud.. i need to know where exactly my data is stored.. nice Google.. i hope i can join the project..
Panggi Libersa , Indonesia
November 19, 2009 11:01 AM
Luis Avilés said...
yeah, i want in :)
November 19, 2009 11:04 AM
jp said...
count me in ;)
November 19, 2009 11:07 AM
foerdi said...
google guys, can you please give us nightly builds - like you did with the chromium browser?
we really need the builds
not every user wants to build the C OS source - most people aren't even able to do that (lacking brainpower)
so, google devs, someone seed image as torrent. the easiest way
November 19, 2009 11:11 AM
Markus Kress said...
I am curious about the release of the upcoming chrome os release
November 19, 2009 11:22 AM
Silver said...
Rock on!!!!
November 19, 2009 11:25 AM
Simone said...
I'd be happy to try it on my netbook, but won't be able to fireup a ubuntu machine just for building it and installing on the netbook. Any plans on doing this?
November 19, 2009 11:51 AM
foerdi said...
I'm building it now...
Will seed it afterwards
November 19, 2009 11:53 AM
Lolo said...
Fantastic, keep it up !
November 19, 2009 12:40 PM
thoughtcrime said...
I'm really lucky to be online while you just release such a huge project.
Chrome OS looks innovative and very easy to use. It even has some eye-candy, nice job :)
But there are two things that bug me, though. One is: How can one draw the line what should be in that Web OS and what not (you said that you want to keep it simple, but what does that mean to software?)
The other is about security and privacy. Sure, things get easier when big G controls all your data, but what if the data on the Google servers get into the wrong hands? I am not very confident about that. I've just thought about how one could solve that issue and I think encryption would be a pretty good solution.
You enter a nickname and a passwort, chrome OS asks google for the headerfile and tries the password on it. If it fits, it could start the session and query more encrypted data (there are keys in the header that can be used to read that data) - if it fits not, the session can't be started (so for the user it wouldn't get anymore complicated but more secure). That way both the password and the data stay secure. An implementation like that and transparent information when exactly data gets send to a website/app would be really nice. A chat encryption like OTR and for e-mails like GPG should also be implemented in my opinion.
Thanks for reading, please keep on making such great opensource software!
November 19, 2009 12:50 PM
cmscritic said...
Looks great guys, You are doing an outstanding job. Keep it up
November 19, 2009 12:52 PM
Maxo said...
I'm looking for semi-regular updated binaries that can be installed in VM programs like VMWare and VirtualBox so that the eager can get snapshots of updates, and developers can begin building applications (tested in Chrome OS) ASAP.
November 19, 2009 12:53 PM
Loreto said...
this is fun!
November 19, 2009 1:18 PM
wave-tobias-hanika said...
Waiting to see more of this interesting stuff! :-)
November 19, 2009 1:35 PM
Benni Bennetsen said...
It looks really nice, you seem to have thought it through, although the thing with only SSD support seems hopeless...
But what I don't get is how should I play my music and movies through this? I'v having a hard time figuring out if one will be able to play all the damx DRM music out there today, and to play dvd .iso or divx movies as most of us wants it to ?
November 19, 2009 2:26 PM
Elijah Bailey said...
After more than a year of speculations, here it is announced. I'm happy to know Google's position in bringing it closer to end-users. I seriously hope the results from its open source foundation will help the project get some horsepower. Else, I vision its usage for web applications and the like, but I still love having an OS stuck on some drive: being offline is still a part of our (my) universe. But to see it for the netbook world will so rock, can't wait to see the performance charts. It'll for sure bring new ideas to the Operating System principles we already know for some years. And to the distros like eyeOS where every 'app' is hosted online, I think the Big G's willingness will bring innovation to that realm.
November 19, 2009 2:28 PM
Nima said...
Why only SSD?
November 19, 2009 2:32 PM
Lucid said...
Look forward to seeing Google O3D running on a Chromium OS netbook! :)
November 19, 2009 2:42 PM
foerdi said...
built the image and vmdk
seeding now
http://www.megafileupload.com/en/file/157544/Chrome-OS-Night-Build-19-11-2009---by-foerdi---myspace-com-murmanda-torrent.html
November 19, 2009 2:52 PM
Per Niila said...
This looks very promising. Build instructions was very easy to follow. Built on Ubuntu 9.10, running on VMware Fusion for Mac. Boot up speed amazing.
November 19, 2009 4:14 PM
dynasty101 said...
how is the info stored in the cloud and how easy is it for a "non-programer" to design web apps, we'll see soon!
November 19, 2009 4:38 PM
Maxo said...
@dynasty101
"how easy is it for a "non-programer" to design web apps"
About as easy as it is for a "non-programmer" to design desktop apps.
November 19, 2009 4:40 PM
DeXtA said...
I would love to get a build of it up and running right now.
but I cannot afford a netbook :(
November 19, 2009 4:52 PM
toinking said...
at least I got here in history! :P
November 19, 2009 8:16 PM
... said...
Looks very shiny but there's something slightly off on the security front. Can't quite put my finger on it but my logic alarm went off when I watched the vid. It is 6:30am here so I'll look at it again later and see if I can figure it out. I don't think its a flaw more of a gap.
November 19, 2009 10:35 PM
Patrick said...
Looks GREAT! Just thinking out loud though -- won't web designers be kind of irritated with the sidebar idea, since to a degree, they count on specific dimensions when designing their layouts.
Of course, there are definitely elegant ways to deal with this, such as zooming out all the browser element when a sidebar is docked, as opposed to simply cutting width out. I'm sure you guys are on top of it :)
November 19, 2009 11:20 PM
vorcigernix said...
So...what's in this for regular ubuntu user?
November 19, 2009 11:59 PM
Bazaar said...
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November 20, 2009 3:43 AM
Madis said...
Hi. I have a question.
Is it possible in chrome os to use terminal? Also, what about backward compatibility with other software. Is it possible to run, for example NetworkManager for Internet Connection Sharing, develope software with any language - in essence, can you use non-web software as well (for example, could chrome os tabs cope with native linux applications). I know that you're targeting the opposite, but in reality, there won't be alternate software/game for everything (like to play old games?).
This leads to second question. If Chrome OS could handle native apps, would wine be installed by default? (Note:COS is Ubuntu based (?), and wine integration was planned for 9.10, but it wasn't done 100% so all of it should get in 10.04)
I understand that there's a limit you can offer for 2010 release, and native apps wouldn't be officialy supported (well, it's still GNU/Linux, so even installing Gnome or GRUB isn't a problem), but are your planning for future releases?
November 20, 2009 12:15 PM
foerdi said...
Madis,
this is Open Source,
you can do whatever you want.
chromium.org itself describes very good how to add packages to your own build.
Google will NOT add native linux rich apps - that's not what they want for their online OS.
Browse the source, build it several times, learn what G does there... and you will be able to customize it
November 20, 2009 12:21 PM
foerdi said...
Terminal: Ctrl Alt T
November 20, 2009 12:42 PM
Madis said...
@foerdi
Thanks for the terminal shortcut, I assume it will be there in final Chrome OS too?
Google will NOT add native linux rich apps - that's not what they want for their online OS.
Yes, but no one wants "handicapped"-OS as their primary OS. I understand that they want to make the difference, but doing extra work to support native applications would be useful. As I said before, I understand if they are not working on this for 2010 release. I assume they have gtk packages already installed, so I could ideally use GIMP or something (until there's no html5+javascript alternative)
November 20, 2009 1:22 PM
Andrew Steinborn said...
Develop, develop, I'm in!
November 20, 2009 6:44 PM
serg said...
It's seems some patches needed for building scripts - for those who're behind the proxy. F.e. creating apt.conf in repo/etc/apt.
November 21, 2009 2:08 AM
Jean-Baptiste said...
I think it would be nice to add Gmail, Picasa & Youtube tabs to the Chrome browser as well and not only in the Chrome OS browser.
I'm talking about the tabs on the left showing the icons of these google apps like we've seen in the OS demo.
Making them configurable so that people without a google account can disable them!
What do you think?
November 21, 2009 7:19 AM
Andriy Drozdyuk said...
I was here!
November 21, 2009 11:06 AM
Chrome said...
see how to install chrome os on windows 7 http://www.trickyways.com/2009/11/how-to-run-chrome-os-in-windows-7/
November 21, 2009 1:22 PM
Debashish said...
Count me in
November 21, 2009 3:10 PM
grimdeath said...
people asking about native apps are missing the point. they do not want to support them because the whole point of the OS is to transition to web apps only (that are as powerful as native apps and usable offline). Keeping native app support would basically make this just another linux OS.
November 21, 2009 3:10 PM
LethalLadyX said...
glad i was here... this is great
November 21, 2009 6:49 PM
LethalLadyX said...
great idea ... hope to be a part of it
November 21, 2009 6:51 PM
Mkools said...
hello,
I am CS final year student from India.
how can I become part of this?
November 21, 2009 8:28 PM
weekawarun said...
Lets Do IT....Im in.....
thats a good idea to make open for me...
November 21, 2009 9:44 PM
AlphaByte$ said...
well i am really excited about this..i saw your video's and i see the firm ware keeps track of the kernal. like if it has been changed or not.. and i also see that you have used linux kernel to build the OS. now what if i want to use a new released linux kernel with your OS?? does your custom firmware allow me to do so?? also if you are shipping your product with a custom firmware. what about if i want to load Chrome OS to an existing netbook. ??
i am looking forward to contribute to this project..
nice work guys..
November 22, 2009 12:11 AM
Robert said...
November 22, 2009 4:38 AM
Robert said...
AlphaByte$, you don't get the custom firmware if it's not in the machine already. That Acer Aspire One in a demo vid (not posted there, but it's suggested at the end of all the videos) was modified especially for Fast Boot. You're never going to have that advantage unless you consider buying a new computer. However, Chromium OS will still work on a netbook, and the speed will still be very fast.
November 22, 2009 4:41 AM
Adri said...
Nice, best way to learn programming - understand the project & look at some excellent written code :-) my lecturer's going to be impressed :-)
November 22, 2009 11:24 AM
ks said...
its GREAT & AWESOME to see my BROWSER in few seconds...!!!
:)
November 22, 2009 6:09 PM
AlphaByte$ said...
@Robert, if at all my netbook has a CF (custom firmware) and what if i want to use a newly released Linux kernel. is there anything that can tell CF that i have changed my kernel?
i think ill have to check out the whole architecture.
:)
thanx mate..
Regards.
November 22, 2009 7:47 PM
pradeep said...
when the source code avail for windows
November 23, 2009 2:24 AM
Amir said...
Its a great and innovative OS ... Hope there is a way to overcome the privacy issues in the cloud ... and I wonder whether you chrome guys thought about a way to stop flash drain the CPU cycles. I think this will be a great contribution to Linux platforms that all have this problem.
November 23, 2009 10:17 AM
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November 23, 2009 8:25 PM
PRINCE SAM33R said...
I am on the toes..
I was agog to develop an OS ,right from my 8th Grade..but never tried
November 24, 2009 8:02 AM
Robert said...
ive been watching this since the press release. i have a duel boot system with ubuntu and windows xp currently so initially i was very excited. but then i seen the deal killer, no local apps only web based ones. chrome will fix many of the problems linux has by making an easy to use simple os and having a huge well known name backing it up but so far its gearing up for failing in the same way linux does in the desktop wars with microsoft. 3d games! google apps, chat,voice,gmail ect are good i use them all the time, but thats not all i use my laptop for. i bought a good laptop with a large videocard for only a few reasons. games, google sketchup, adope photoshop, movies, itunes. these are the important apps i see even the netbooks use. every computer has a browser and can access gmail and google apps, but game and app developers only make software for certain systems. the google name may draw some of that but if chrome cant even do what netbooks can already do now then why would i bother buying a new "device" just for gmail, let alone replacing a netbook os, or my primary laptop os. im sorry as i really wanted to like chrome os
November 25, 2009 4:14 AM
mohamed said...
i would love to contribute. i am really a big fan of Open Source OS. I hope google would be able to do what linux wasnt able to do which is make the Open Source OS a real OS that can be used by ordinary ppl not just technical geeks.
November 25, 2009 9:19 AM
WordWielder said...
Okay, as far as the features, the apps and all the improvements over the existing O.S. we are forced to use: Chrome definitely outshines and out-performs the competition. However, as dynamic and cutting-edge a company as Google is, I'm a bit underwhelmed as to the aesthetic appeal of Chrome.
I mean you used "tabs" at the top of the screen to switch between features and applications. Come on, tabs? Are you serious? This is about as dull and disinteresting as having multiple "tabs" of Excel spread sheets open during a single session.
Firstly, to change an established paradigm, such as the current O.S. systems being used the world over, you need to come in with a bang! Old paradigms never die, they have to be forced out by the new and better paradigm making its debut. While Chrome has the power, potential and practicality of being better, it lacks the appeal- and that is the very thing that will get people to initially "buy" into the idea.
You need to create a sense of "wow" and wonder, or at least anticipation for what awaits the user just beyond the next click. For that matter, instead of tabs, why not make good use of people's infatuation with mystery, discovery and the unknown. So, in this respect, "Portals" would be much better served. Each portal opens up into another world of O.S. possibilities and dynamic options.
If "portals" are too close a match to "windows" (actually, I think the pun would work to your advantage because it would be in direct competition to Windows) then why not something like "worlds" or "realms"? I'm not saying you call the existing tab layout "tabs", I am saying that the appearance of tabs on the main layout has got to go. Create some dynamic sphere or eye-catching icon that opens up into the new and alternate realms of infinite possibilities that the Google O.S. brings to the world. Make a splash with the release of this thing, not a crash!
I do want to be included in your updates though so please keep me abreast of any developments.
November 25, 2009 9:43 AM
Lalwani said...
sounds gr8 guys, smthing different :)
its pleasure joining such stream
November 25, 2009 10:52 PM
Techie said...
The idea of a Web-OS looks okay, but it will be grate if the OS have an offline support. Like the devices which are not connected to the net which can be connected to net later and load the data to the G space.
It looks simple but the data syncing will be a tricky one, once connected
November 26, 2009 4:40 PM
Alaa Murad said...
It's very sad that Google is taking the whole OS to the web, I want to say that the web doesn't show the full power of today's computers. Look at Compiz 3D desktop and you can see that the computer got to be 3D there are many hidden power in today's graphics cards.
the problem for the alternative OS is awareness, with google power , they could have made Ubuntu + compiz the world's OS.
For the first time , Linux out preformed Windows, Linux supports wide range of hardware and software, and for the first time you can take this solider to the battle field, but sadly Google wants to reinvent the wheel !
Ubuntu , made a big difference in Linux world and Google should just give it some buzz and co-develop it!
November 29, 2009 6:18 PM
Adri said...
Hi Alaa, I see where you're coming from and that's perfectly true. However, thinking of doing things differently and searching for better alternatives, revolutionary ones, is what is driving the society forward. We need people with curious minds to look forward.
And besides, Googlers are intelligent people - if they had to focus just Windows/Linux battle that would just be so boring and would make it less of a challenge.
Just to give you another example... today World is using TCP/IP based on (almost) exactly the same structure/architecture invented when the Internet was invented. What's wrong with that? When internet was invented we didn't use multimedia, e-commerce and weren't bothered so much about security and only thought there'd be 5 computers in the world. There surely more than 5, and we're using the same architecture. Isn't this lame?
I think we need some Googlers to change the Internet. :-)
November 30, 2009 12:19 AM
jeremy said...
your gonna really screw your selves over by making this fine OS only available on netbooks that ship with it, plenty of people already own netbooks and the holiday season is soon which means even more netbook users, no one is going to shell out more money to buy a netbook that has an OS on it that they cant store there data on the system itself, and another thing, really, ssd only? thats a fail right there. You guys should have it available to be downloaded and installed on any machine, but only support lets say, the normal hardware in a netbook, and if anyone wants to run it on their umm desktop or laptop then theres the opensource community that WILL add more driver support. Just have it available to be downloaded and installed and not have to buy a new netbook that has it preinstalled, thats a waste.
November 30, 2009 2:07 PM
Steven said...
It would really be in Google's and our best interest for them to develop a slick multi-boot interface for those who would like Chrome OS in addition to Windows/Linux/etc installed on their netbooks/phones. That, and seamless compatibility with virtual PC environments would be very useful. In fact, for desktops and laptops, there should be a version of the Chrome browser that's basically a virtual PC running Chrome OS.
November 30, 2009 7:06 PM
Dreamfly said...
great support! dreamfl912
December 4, 2009 6:32 PM
Jimmy said...
Is there a place to download the firmware source code (for either x86 or arm processor)?
Thanks.
December 9, 2009 11:08 AM
ap09.com said...
I am really excited about the chrome operating system.I think it will compete Microsoft.
January 18, 2010 3:37 AM
Ray said...
Will I have to buy a new computer to use Chrome OS? It would be great to access it using my current hardware
March 23, 2010 8:47 PM
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