Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer

Google Chrome OS Netbooks: Coming in mid-2011 #gct

Google Chome OS is coming in mid-2011 and promises to offer a netbook experience that will put Apple’s iOS as well as Microsoft’s Windows empire to task. (As well as Mac OS X.) After reading this Wired article on the new operating system, it sounds like Google OS will be “cloud computing as it should be.” ALL apps will be stored in the cloud, making devices literally interchangeable as users each login with their unique Google account credentials. Contrast this to a K12 school today struggling to figure out how to manage iOS app purchases on iPads and iPod Touches. The current iOS / iTunes app model works wonderfully in the consumer and higher ed markets, but faces big challenges in K12 schools. Google OS is going to make this landscape even more interesting as well as productive.

I’m amazed to read jailbreaking will not only be possible on Google OS, it will be welcomed. Chen writes for Wired:

Though exact specifications for future devices are unknown, Google is handing out an unbranded pilot device [netbook] running Chrome OS called the Cr-48The Cr-48 features a 12.1-inch screen, an Intel Atom processor, a flash memory drive, Wi-Fi, a “world-mode” 3G chip that works with international cellular networks and a built-in “jailbreaking” mode so you can hack it.

A “built-in jailbreaking mode” for hacking? Hopefully Google engineers will devise effective ways to keep malware off computers running their OS, since they will apparently be easily “jailbreakable.” If your students are looking for a good compare / contrast writing topic, consider comparing Apple’s iOS app / iTunes model to Google OS. Big philosophy and control differences are apparent. Will consumers as well as learners in schools lust after Google OS devices the way many of us are now after iPads and their iOS brethren? Time will tell.

Check out the full article:

What You Need to Know About Google Chrome OS

Get a quick summary of details about Chrome OS, Google’s new browser-based operating system, set to ship on netbooks in 2011.

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One response to “Google Chrome OS Netbooks: Coming in mid-2011 #gct”

  1. teacherjim Avatar

    I have filled out the form to get 15 of the Cr-48 netbooks. We want to find out if they will work for Moodle online course users. Our 1 network admin can not keep up with the plugins and updates need to make sure that when a student is using a Moodle online course all links and plugins work.
    I am wondering about the issue of packet sniffing, that was recently highlighed with the release of Firesheep. If all the apps and files are in the cloud will Google protect me from hackers?