- ネットワーク接続が前提、オフラインはGoogle Gearsを使う
- オープンソースでありながら、Certification（認証）プロセスはかなり厳しい模様
- ディスクはSolid Stateオンリー、ハードディスクはサポートしない模様（今日発売されているPCは殆どNG)
- デバイスサポートについては不明
- セキュリティについては何やらData Liberation Frontで定義している機能をベースにやっているらしい
Crazy Google Kids at it Again with Chrome OS
Google kicked off the launch of its Chromium OS project today with a presentation on Chrome OS. The first thing you'll notice is that the name of Google's consumer product will be Chrome OS, while the open source project is named Chromium OS. My guess: Google will bless the usage of the Chrome OS name by granting trademark rights to those who comply with Google's standards. Google didn't say that, but that's what I would do.
The next thing I noticed is that Chrome OS will be completely "cloud-based". As in, no local data. As in, all web apps all the time. As in, it's only useful to the extent that there's an internet connection. This will likely prove to be a Google Rohrschach test. Those already predisposed to disliking anything Google does will find this horrifying. Those who think Google is the bee's knees will conclude that it's not completely evil and, indeed, is the next logical evolution of desktops-in-the-cloud technology.
This is at first glance a radical change from what we've previously called an operating system. At second glance, it really does make a lot of sense. I and several others have been trying to advocate the usage of open source software as a platform and delivery system for automated services over a network. Most companies in the commercial open source space have been, for reasons beyond my comprehension, slow to completely embrace this strategy. Now Google is taking this concept to the extreme. The question is, is it too extreme?
The benefits are enormous - without all the overhead that most operating systems have to deal with, Chromium engineers are free to optimize to their heart's desire without breaking existing code. Users can tap into a wide array of web-based applications, whether on the internet or an intranet. Google claims that they will store all of your user data (cue rioting by privacy and standards advocates). This wasn't mentioned in the video, but Chris DiBona pointed out that this is why Google sponsors the Data Liberation Front, to assure users that their data is always accessible and can be moved out of (and into) Google products. Chrome OS also features some additional security measures that make it more difficult for someone to pwn a machine and then use it to access the data stored on Google's servers. There's a very clever trust mechanism that I'll link to if I can find a good description.
Of course, that doesn't - and shouldn't - mollify those of us worried about data privacy. Then again, most of us already entrust Google with much of our data. You can either not use Google products, or you can "trust but verify." Either way, the concern is understandable, and Google faces increasing opposition to data mongering with every data scraping product they make.
The downsides to Chromium OS are both obvious and non-obvious. The above concerns of privacy and lock-in are obvious and are not new to followers of Google. Another obvious downside is that any Chrome OS machine is pretty much DOA when it comes to enterprise computing. The inability to run any legacy application is a non-starter for most organizations. Then again, Google isn't targeting that market, so perhaps it's not an issue - yet. And let's not forget that if you travel somewhere without a net connection, you're out of luck, unless you've set of Google Gears to create local copies. There was no word on whether the plan is to make that the default approach.
Some perhaps less obvious downsides involve its certification policy. At one point in the presentation, there was some mention of Chrome OS only running on machines with solid state drives, which led me to wonder whether this was going to be a self-contained box, a la Apple. Soon afterwards, however, there was some discussion about working with hardware partners and certifying machines to run Chrome OS. Not mentioned was how tightly they would police the Chrome OS trademark. Yes, Chromium OS is an open source project, but we've seen in the past that enforcing trademarks too strictly can incite community rebellions. See, eg. Red Hat, Mozilla, Java, Twiki, et al. Personally, I can see the case for using a certification process and enforcing it with trademarks. Assuming this is the direction they go, one hopes they're smart about it. Communicated very clearly, however, was that Chrome OS will not run on most netbooks sold today, thus the need for a rigorous certification process.
There are also open questions as to how well Chrome OS will work with devices and peripherals. It remains to be seen how enthusiastic device manufacturers will be about supporting yet another platform. Based on today's presentation, it looks like Google will go with the approach of working with a select few hardware vendors. Given that these netbooks will be targeted at consumers, it remains to be seen how well they will be able to dictate the distribution channels for both the base netbooks as well as peripherals. One can easily envision someone buying a cheap consumer device and being disappointed that it won't work with their shiny new Chrome OS-based netbook.
For more on Chromium OS, see Chromium.org as well as today's blog announcement.
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OStatic blogs / Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:36:52 GMT
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