You don’t have to get on Windows 8′s Metro ride.
Some people are still sure Windows 8 is going to be the cat’s meow. I’m sure Windows 8 and its Metro interface will be more like a cat’s yowl of pain. The more I look at Metro, the more I’m sure that Microsoft’s new desktop will flop as badly as the Facebook IPO.
It’s not just me. Business analysts, who could care less about technology but care a lot about what customers think, are saying things like “Windows 8 will prove to be a disappointment.”
Windows users who were already unhappy about having to learn Metro, which doesn’t work or look a thing like Vista and Windows 7’s Aero interface never mind XP’s familiar appearance, are finding out there’s more trouble ahead for them. Windows 8 will cost more at launch to upgrade to from Windows 7. DVD playback and media-center functionality will now be an extra-price option.
Oh as for Metro-friendly applications, here’s what Matthew Baxter-Reynolds, an independent software development consultant, speaker, author, and trainer and all around Windows guru who’s writing the book “Programming Windows 8 Apps with C#” had to say: “does Metro actually work? In my opinion: No.”
I don’t care if your most prized possession is an autographed copy of Bill Gates’ The Road Ahead, you have got to be wary of moving to Windows 8. So what can you do to avoid, or at least delay, the day you have to start using it?
1. Stick with Windows XP
OK, so your PC is getting a little older, but it’s still working isn’t it? According to some estimates, most PC users are still using XP. Certainly hundreds of millions of users are still using it. If it’s not broke, why fix it?
Well, there is one reason: On April 8, 2014, Microsoft says it will officially end support for XP–and Office 2003 while they’re at it. Of course, Microsoft has extended XP’s life support before. Today, they swear they wouldn’t do it again. But, if say 20% of users still have XP running in their PCs in 2014… well let’s just say I won’t be surprised if Microsoft has a change of heart.
2. Stick with Windows 7 or move to it
So, let’s say its 2012’s holiday season and all the new PCs are coming out with Windows 8, what do you do? You don’t ask, you demand, Windows 7 instead.
Yes, I’m a Linux guy, but if you really want Windows, and I know most of you do, Windows 7 SP 1 is easily the best version of Windows to date. Yes, it’s not the same as XP. There is a learning curve. On the other hand, while it’s not as safe as Linux, Windows 7 is a lot more secure than XP. There are also plenty of useful, easy to-use tools to move your XP data and applications to Windows 7.
3. Move to a Linux or Mac Desktop
Since Microsoft wants to force a radical change on you, why not really make a change and move to Linux or a Mac? The Linux desktop is great for both power users and for users who just need a computer for the basics. Specifically, I think XP users will find Linux Mint with the Cinnamon interface to be inviting. And, Ubuntu 12.04’s Unity interface is much easier to use than Metro. Heck, my 80-year old mother-in-law is a successful Ubuntu user!
Macs, of course, are Macs. They’re pricy, you’re locked into Apple’s hardware and software in ways that Steve Ballmer can only dream about, and, and, gosh they’re pretty and easy to use. Well, easy to use so long as you do exactly what Apple thinks you should be doing anyway.
4. Move to the cloud with Google’s Chrome OS.
Chrome OS hasn’t really caught on yet, but I think Google’s Chrome OS is a real alternative to Windows for many users. It’s not so much Chrome OS itself, it’s the whole concept of being able to use a Web browser and the cloud for everything you need to do and that you want to do instead of a fat client desktop operating system.
Think about what you’re doing today. Web-browsing, e-mail, IM, VoIP, maybe using Google Docs, whatever, how much of that actually requires that you use a local application? If 99% of what you’re doing on your computer can be done on the Web, what more than you really need than the Chrome Web browser, or-and there’s the point–an operating system like Chrome OS, which is just the Chrome Web browser running on a barebones Linux structure?
5. Use an iPad or Android tablet instead.
Microsoft really wants people to switch to Windows 8, and its close cousin Windows RT smartphones and tablets. I’m not holding my breath. I actually think Windows 8/Metro on Intel actually makes sense–Windows RT, which doesn’t have Active Directory support, not so much. Metro looks and works better on a tablet than it ever will on a desktop. There’s just this one little problem: People love iPads and they’re getting fonder of the Android tablets with their lower price tags. If I were a Microsoft fan, I’d worry if there’s any room left in the market for a Windows 8 tablet.
At the same time, as Microsoft is painfully aware, tablets are becoming popular as desktop replacements. As ZDNet’s own James Kendrick points out, “It is now possible to get a full day’s work from almost anywhere, without compromise,” on a tablet.
So, come the day you go to a Best Buy and all you see is Windows 8 PCs from one end of the store to the other, just remember you do have other, better, options.
Related Stories:
No Windows 8 DVD playback will mean increased costs, and consumer confusion
Windows 8 will “disappoint”: Analysts cut price targets on HP, Dell
Windows 8 Pro upgrade for new PC buyers set at $14.99
Windows 8’s five biggest enemies
Five Reasons why Windows 8 will be dead on arrival
Article source: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/five-ways-to-avoid-windows-8/11007
Tags: Chrome OS, Chrome Web, DVD, PC, Related Stories, XP
(click image for larger view and for slideshow)
The funny thing about the tech industry is that everyone talks about competition but no one wants to compete, at least not on a level playing field.
Today’s tech giants are fine with competing on their own terms, terms that give them an advantage. They’re not so keen to participate in a fair fight.
Usually, tech companies rely on the legal system to insulate themselves from competition. When Apple sued HTC two years ago, then-CEO Steve Jobs condemned HTC for infringing Apple’s patents. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours,” he said.
Microsoft said as much protesting the European Commission’s 2004 finding that the company had abused its PC industry dominance. As a remedy, the European Commission required that Microsoft disclose its interface documentation to allow non-Microsoft servers to work with PCs.
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Microsoft objected to this requirement. “[T]he compulsory license will allow competitors to replicate Microsoft’s technologies such that their products would be indistinguishable from Microsoft’s products in important respects,” the company said. “This outcome will largely eliminate incentives for these companies to develop alternative or better technologies–precisely the opposite of what competition law is intended to achieve.”
Occasionally, a company will acknowledge wanting to avoid competition. ATT CEO Randall Stephenson, for example, recently suggested that Google and Mozilla object, knowing that their browsers can’t compete on Windows RT devices without access to those APIs.
Harvey Anderson, general counsel for Mozilla, said Mozilla isn’t presently pursuing the issue with the Federal Trade Commission or the Justice Department. “We will continue to evaluate and see if that will be the appropriate mechanism to get the resolution that we seek,” he said in an emailed statement.
2. Apple’s iOS
Apple has not been shy about using patents and copyrights to limit competitors. But it also relies on contracts to constrain developers and makers of peripherals that interface with Apple products. In some circumstances, Apple couples contracts with technological barriers. Apple’s rules prevent the use of writable, executable memory pages, except for its own Safari browser. Apple, in other words, is imposing the same kind of restriction as Microsoft is in Windows RT to preclude the possibility of JIT compilers, which are essential for the operation of modern browsers.
Mozilla is less bothered by Apple’s barriers, presumably due to its traditional focus on desktop browsing. “The similarities to iOS don’t justify an outcome on Windows that deprives users of choice, reduces competition, and hurts innovation,” Mozilla’s counsel Anderson said. “The difference here is that Microsoft is using its Windows monopoly power in the OS market to exclude competition in the browser market. Microsoft also published commitments to users, industry, and software developers … that in essence said Microsoft would design Windows to allow choice and provide a level playing field for third-party applications like the browser. These factors create a situation that is materially different than iOS.”
Perhaps, but the situation is not so materially different that we have Firefox or Chrome for iOS.
3. Google’s Chrome OS
How do you avoid competing with other browser makers? Make an operating system with a built-in browser. Chrome OS supports only Google’s Chrome browser. That’s the way it was made. When Microsoft tried that, the European Commission forced Microsoft to stop bundling its operating system and browser. But Google has gotten away with it, largely because so few people are using Chrome OS devices. Why worry that the playing field isn’t level if Google’s team is the only one that showed up for the game?
Article source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterprise_apps/240000284
Tags: Chrome OS, European Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Harvey Anderson, HTC, Justice Department
I never expected my 70 year-old mother to ride the cutting edge of technology, but she’s there, living in the cloud, which she embraces enthusiastically. What’s that saying about not teaching old dogs new tricks? Perhaps you can.
Mom’s daily tech is way out there, and you can blame or credit me for lifting her there. But she’s a willing participant, happily adopting new habits, which in the end wasn’t so difficult once she recognized the benefits. Perhaps your mother will, too, if you give her the chance. Mom uses Android phone (Samsung Nexus S), Chromebook (Google Cr-48) and Google TV (Logitech Revue). She lives in the cloud via these Google-powered devices and associated services.
Lifestyle Choice
Technology is all about lifestyle, but more highly pronounced in the cloud-connected device era, driven in part by vendors’ product philosophies and marketing strategies. Choose any product company at the height of its dominance, and for some even after, there is lifestyle behind them — Ford, Harley Davidson, IBM, Kodak and Sony, among many, many others. People choosing Linux or Macintosh during the 1990s and early 2000s made lifestyle choices different from the DOS/Windows majority. BlackBerry and Palm Pilot presented connected lifestyles during the past decade. Examples abound.
For mom, the Google cloud lifestyle works well, although it’s nowhere near where she started. I bought mom her first computer, a refurbished Gateway laptop, in 1999. She used Windows PCs through 2008, when I shipped her the last iMac G5 produced by Apple (released October 2005). I did this because the Windows lifestyle wasn’t working for either of us. She had a terrible experience where in November 2006 Microsoft’s “Genuine” tool wrongly flagged her HP PC — that I had set up and shipped — as having pirated Windows XP (it most certainly did not). Occasional malware and other problems led me to offer the iMac.
The Apple lifestyle worked well for mom, and she often expressed how much she loved her Mac. It worked for me, too. I received much fewer tech-support calls from her. But in other ways, the Apple lifestyle fit poorly. She didn’t own iPhone, iPod or digital camera. The Mac wasn’t her hub for digital lifestyle — as Apple cofounder positioned the platform at the start of the Millennium. Mom played a few games on her Mac, but largely the web browser defined her digital lifestyle.
Shining Chromebook
Last year, the iMac’s graphics card started to fail. Mom badly needed a new computer, being in a wheelchair and relying on the Mac for information and connection to others. She gets out most every day during summer months, but she is more apartment-bound during long New England winters. A new Mac didn’t fit either of our budgets. Apple demands too much to join the Mac club — $1,200 starting price for a desktop PC.
I considered the Cr-48 Chromebook, and we discussed it as an option for about two weeks; she was lukewarm. Then my niece visited her grandmother, and to my absolute surprise she had used a Chromebook at work. That sold mom, who proactively asked me to send the Cr-48. Chromebook isn’t a perfect fit, in part because mom moved from a 17-inch to 12-inch display.
Mom also had to learn new habits, even though she already spent most of her life in the browser. She also switched from Yahoo to Gmail, which better suited using an Android phone. All in all, she has expressed satisfaction with the change, with one caveat: Netflix streaming is sometimes choppy. That’s more a hardware problem than issue with Chrome OS.
I’m considering a new Chromebook for her, which should solve that problem. Acer Chromebooks start at $299. Timing is right, particularly with desktop-like UI motif coming to Chrome OS. Google didn’t initially release “Aura” for Cr-48, but it’s available now. She must not have the motif, or I would have heard about it. I’ll ask today.
Chromebook fits mom’s lifestyle — and mine, too. Google frequently updates Chrome OS, which development closely tracks with the web browser. I’ve had one tech call from her in 10 months, and neither of us worry about viruses. All her stuff stores in Google’s cloud, so there’s less concern about losing valuables in the event of hardware failure. Setting up a new Chromebook will be as easy as logging in with Google ID.
Going Google TV
In December, mom got some unexpected Social Security money and used two-thirds of it to buy a 46-inch television. What an opportunity for Christmas: I upgraded her PC with Google TV. Mom’s vision isn’t so good, and it seemed to me that doing email and the Web on a big-screen would be better. Plus she could stream Netflix to the television — more sensible locale than the computer. I sent her the discontinued Logitech Revue, because of the PC-like keyboard.
Google TV was easier for mom to grasp than Chromebook for two reasons that I would never have guessed: Apps and Android. Her Android phone experience made Google TV more intuitive than Chrome OS, which surprised me; I reasoned that the browser would be the more familiar interface. Perhaps, but if you’re looking for more out of any computing device, apps and customization matter more — and these attributes made Google TV easier to use and more familiar to her.
Revue instantly appealed, and now mom moves among Google-OS devices — Android, Chromebook and Google TV — depending on context. The stuff that matters to her is available on any of them.
Mom lives in the cloud now. She doesn’t have a digital camera; Nexus S is it. Unlike iOS, Android presents sharing options with each photo. So she can snap and share to Facebook, which is her primary social network, because that’s where her kids and grandkids hang out. Or wherever else. She doesn’t use Chrome for Android beta, but I need to change that. Browser sync across devices is another benefit she could use.
Mom embraced something new, and benefits greatly from changing her habits. She was always pretty flexible and adaptable, generous and good natured. She deserves better than I can give her. I remember her for lots of things this Mother’s Day, but they’re not tech enough for BetaNews. Her Google lifestyle is, though, which is why I write about it.
Now if I could only interest mom in Google+. 
Article source: http://betanews.com/2012/05/13/mom-is-a-google-girl/
Tags: Chrome OS, Mother Day, New England, PC, Shining Chromebook Last, Social Security
Google’s Linux-based Chrome OS Aura interface has a new friend: Linus Torvalds.
Linus Torvalds, Linux’s primary creator, hasn’t been happy with the direction his formerly favorite Linux desktop interface, GNOME, has gone. In fact, Torvalds downright hates GNOME 3.x. He’ll get no argument from me. I hate GNOME 3.x too. Recently though, Torvalds has start toying with Google’s new Chrome operating system’s Aura interface and, guess what, he kind of likes it.
Torvalds wrote, “And I haven’t really played around with it all that much, but as a desktop it really doesn’t look that bad. I could name worse desktops (cough cough). [That would be GNOME.]
Torvalds continued, “It allows such radical notions as having easy mouse configurability for things like how to launch applications. Things gnome removed because those kinds of things were “too confusing”, and in the process made useless. And an auto-hide application dock at the bottom. Revolutionary, I know.”
Say hello to Google’s new, old Chrome OS (gallery)
He added, “It also seems to improve on the experience even in the non-laptop mode. Making the calendar start as a “window” instead of as a browser tab also means that when you use it in the single-use mode that we traditionally did, the app takes up the whole screen, without the browser buttons etc.”
“So the new Aura approach seems to work both as a traditional window manager and as a more limited “apps take up the whole screen”. Maybe this whole ‘browser as an app’ thing can really work,” Torvalds concluded.
In short, he found, as I have when I tested Chrome OS Aura, that Google has taken its hybrid Linux desktop/cloud-based and given it a really useful retro desktop look. Personally, I’ll take this kind of desktop, or the Linux distribution’s Mint new take on the GNOME 2 interface, Cinnamon over such new and improved desktop interfaces as GNOME 3.x or Windows 8 Metro any day of the week.
The current generation of Chromebooks though, which is where most people including Torvalds use Chrome OS, are another matter. Torvalds wrote, “The whole point of a laptop for me is that you can take it on the road and do your work. And that, to me, means “compile stuff and use git”. And no, “use ssh [Secure Shell] in a browser to compile on some other machine” does not count. The laptop is the only thing I have with me. So for it to count as a real laptop, I need to be able to do real work locally too. I like having lots of connected options, but they can’t be the only options.”
Of course you don’t need a Chromebook to run Chrome OS. You can run it on any PC. It’s just that it’s not packaged that way. In fact, I run Chrome OS in virtual machines all the time. Personally, though, my Samsung Series 5 Chromebook has become my grab and go laptop.
On the other hand, I just use Web applications like Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Voice on it. I don’t try to use git, never-mind compile anything on it! For those uses, it would be great if, as it appears might be the case, the next generation of Chromebooks will be built on Intel’s Ivy Bridge chips.
In the meantime though, as Torvalds said in a comment, “I was pleasantly surprised by the new interface – it seems to be going very much in the right direction. Give it a few years (and better hardware), and I can really see it happening. As it is, it’s clearly useful for some people, judging by the comments here. It’s not there for me now. But the new interface is better even just for the limited use I put the thing to.”
Related Stories:
Google’s new Chrome OS: Back to the future
New Chromebooks to get a much-needed Ivy Bridge speed boost?
Google wants you to buy a Chromebook: Should you? (Review)
How to install Google’s Chrome OS
Five Reasons why Google’s Linux Chromebook could be a Windows killer
Article source: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/linus-torvalds-likes-the-google-chrome-os-linux-desktop/10890
Tags: Chrome OS, GNOME, Ivy Bridge, Linus Torvalds, Related Stories, Secure Shell
Google’s Linux-based Chrome OS Aura interface has a new friend: Linus Torvalds.
Linus Torvalds, Linux’s primary creator, hasn’t been happy with the direction his formerly favorite Linux desktop interface, GNOME, has gone. In fact, Torvalds downright hates GNOME 3.x. He’ll get no argument from me. I hate GNOME 3.x too. Recently though, Torvalds has start toying with Google’s new Chrome operating system’s Aura interface and, guess what, he kind of likes it.
Torvalds wrote, “And I haven’t really played around with it all that much, but as a desktop it really doesn’t look that bad. I could name worse desktops (cough cough). [That would be GNOME.]
Torvalds continued, “It allows such radical notions as having easy mouse configurability for things like how to launch applications. Things gnome removed because those kinds of things were “too confusing”, and in the process made useless. And an auto-hide application dock at the bottom. Revolutionary, I know.”
Say hello to Google’s new, old Chrome OS (gallery)
He added, “It also seems to improve on the experience even in the non-laptop mode. Making the calendar start as a “window” instead of as a browser tab also means that when you use it in the single-use mode that we traditionally did, the app takes up the whole screen, without the browser buttons etc.”
“So the new Aura approach seems to work both as a traditional window manager and as a more limited “apps take up the whole screen”. Maybe this whole ‘browser as an app’ thing can really work,” Torvalds concluded.
In short, he found, as I have when I tested Chrome OS Aura, that Google has taken its hybrid Linux desktop/cloud-based and given it a really useful retro desktop look. Personally, I’ll take this kind of desktop, or the Linux distribution’s Mint new take on the GNOME 2 interface, Cinnamon over such new and improved desktop interfaces as GNOME 3.x or Windows 8 Metro any day of the week.
The current generation of Chromebooks though, which is where most people including Torvalds use Chrome OS, are another matter. Torvalds wrote, “The whole point of a laptop for me is that you can take it on the road and do your work. And that, to me, means “compile stuff and use git”. And no, “use ssh [Secure Shell] in a browser to compile on some other machine” does not count. The laptop is the only thing I have with me. So for it to count as a real laptop, I need to be able to do real work locally too. I like having lots of connected options, but they can’t be the only options.”
Of course you don’t need a Chromebook to run Chrome OS. You can run it on any PC. It’s just that it’s not packaged that way. In fact, I run Chrome OS in virtual machines all the time. Personally, though, my Samsung Series 5 Chromebook has become my grab and go laptop.
On the other hand, I just use Web applications like Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Voice on it. I don’t try to use git, never-mind compile anything on it! For those uses, it would be great if, as it appears might be the case, the next generation of Chromebooks will be built on Intel’s Ivy Bridge chips.
In the meantime though, as Torvalds said in a comment, “I was pleasantly surprised by the new interface – it seems to be going very much in the right direction. Give it a few years (and better hardware), and I can really see it happening. As it is, it’s clearly useful for some people, judging by the comments here. It’s not there for me now. But the new interface is better even just for the limited use I put the thing to.”
Related Stories:
Google’s new Chrome OS: Back to the future
New Chromebooks to get a much-needed Ivy Bridge speed boost?
Google wants you to buy a Chromebook: Should you? (Review)
How to install Google’s Chrome OS
Five Reasons why Google’s Linux Chromebook could be a Windows killer
Article source: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/linus-torvalds-likes-the-google-chrome-os-linux-desktop/10890
Tags: Chrome OS, GNOME, Ivy Bridge, Linus Torvalds, New Chromebooks, Related Stories
Google Drive is now being integrated with Google’s lighweight, essentially mobile-oriented Chrome operating system. This could be crucial to the future of both products. But more important, it underlines the symbiotic relationship between mobility and the cloud.
Talk about “thin clients” and remote storage has been around for years. But it is no coincidence that it finally began to catch on at the same time as mobile use takes off. And while the mobile trend has been largely consumer-driven, it has broad implications for IT at midsize firms. Most business computer use is by “consumers” of IT services. Mobility has impacted them in much the same way that it has impacted the general consumer public.
A Local Disk in the Cloud
As reported by Stephen Shankland at CNET, Google Drive is being incorporated into the lastest release of the Chrome operating system (version 20.0.1116.0). The integration was announced in a Chrome blog post.
For the Chrome OS, it is a critical step. The browser-based operating system achieves compactness at the price of a limited file-management system. And until now, the only way to make files saved on Chrome available elsewhere was by taking a fairly clunky user action, such as emailing a document to yourself.
Now, anything done through the Chrome OS will be integrated automatically and seamlessly into Drive’s cloud. Said Chrome OS product manager Scott Johnston, “It’s as if you have a local disk, but it happens to be stored in the cloud.”
Multiple Devices and the Cloud
The Chrome OS is not “mobile” in the same sense that Android is, designed specifically for smartphones and other very small mobile devices. But it is tailored for compact “Chromebooks,” which are certainly mobile in the sense of being carried along by their owners and used in various places.
More broadly, mobility goes along with having and using multiple devices. And therein lies a tale about data storage. So long as computer users typically worked on just one machine, storing data locally was simple, practical, and convenient. Having a work computer and a home computer didn’t really change this, since little data was shared between them.
But once the typical user has several devices, and wants to share data, whether personal music or work contacts, freely among them, the local-storage paradigm goes out the window. A local drive on one device is effectively “in the cloud” for all the other devices. So storage may as well really be in the cloud.
This mobile cloud paradigm does not just apply to consumers. For better or worse, it applies to IT as well. Mobile devices have come to work, and workplace computing access has gone on the road. Both trends mean that a midsize firm’s data can no longer be assumed to reside on local disks or even a local network.
For IT managers at these firms, it means some additional data management and data security headaches. But for the firms, it means greater flexibility. In any case, the symbiosis of mobility and the cloud is a fact of contemporary IT life.
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. Become a fan of the program on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
Article source: http://midsizeinsider.com/en-us/article/google-drive-for-chrome-os-mobility-and
Tags: Chrome OS, IBM, IT, Midsize Business, Multiple Devices, Scott Johnston
When they first first took the wraps off Google Drive, Google had only Android, Windows, and Mac software available for us to sync our files. Chrome OS wouldn’t be far behind, said senior VP Sundar Pichai — and he wasn’t kidding.
Just days later, Google Drive integration surfaced in the Developer channel build of Chrome OS. After an update and a reboot, the file manager finally displayed something other than the Downloads folder. There sits Google Drive, albeit in a very nascent and unfinished state.
My Samsung Chromebook had some trouble pulling up the contents of my Google Drive at first, which appeared to be a conflict with my corporate firewall. As it struggled to connect, I noticed something that made it quite obvious that Google has been working on this type of integration for a while: the loading animation reads Google Docs instead of Google Drive. Once I was connected to my home Wi-Fi network, the Drive tab loaded up just fine.
There’s a long way to go before Drive integration is ready for the Stable channel of Chrome OS, but what’s already there is a very good start. Chrome’s save as dialog can write directly to Google Drive, and it’s easy enough to upload via the file manager — just copy a file from your downloads folder and paste it where you want it to go on Google Drive. Within seconds, it’s up in the cloud and heading for your other Google-synced computers.
Extensions that support saving content to a disk — like media grabbers and downloaders — don’t work too well at this point. Several of the extensions I tried became unresponsive after I’d clicked save, though Webcam Toy was able to capture an image from the Chromebook’s camera and save it directly to Google Drive without issue.
Another feature that isn’t working yet is offline support — but that’s coming, too. Google Docs offline access works just fine on Chrome OS if you’ve got the app installed, so it’s likely just a matter of retooling things — though some controls will need to be added. Now that Google Drive is hoovering up files from Windows and Mac systems and Android devices, Google will need to make sure that we can select individual folders and files to push to our Chromebooks’ minimal internal storage.
With a window manager, taskbar, and flexible access to Google Drive coming together, Chrome OS is steadily evolving into more than just a bootable web browser.
Article source: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/chrome-os-gets-first-taste-of-google-drive-integration-20120430/
Tags: Chrome OS, Google Docs, Google Drive, Webcam Toy, Wi Fi
When they first first took the wraps off Google Drive, Google had only Android, Windows, and Mac software available for us to sync our files. Chrome OS wouldn’t be far behind, said senior VP Sundar Pichai — and he wasn’t kidding.
Just days later, Google Drive integration surfaced in the Developer channel build of Chrome OS. After an update and a reboot, the file manager finally displayed something other than the Downloads folder. There sits Google Drive, albeit in a very nascent and unfinished state.
My Samsung Chromebook had some trouble pulling up the contents of my Google Drive at first, which appeared to be a conflict with my corporate firewall. As it struggled to connect, I noticed something that made it quite obvious that Google has been working on this type of integration for a while: the loading animation reads Google Docs instead of Google Drive. Once I was connected to my home Wi-Fi network, the Drive tab loaded up just fine.
There’s a long way to go before Drive integration is ready for the Stable channel of Chrome OS, but what’s already there is a very good start. Chrome’s save as dialog can write directly to Google Drive, and it’s easy enough to upload via the file manager — just copy a file from your downloads folder and paste it where you want it to go on Google Drive. Within seconds, it’s up in the cloud and heading for your other Google-synced computers.
Extensions that support saving content to a disk — like media grabbers and downloaders — don’t work too well at this point. Several of the extensions I tried became unresponsive after I’d clicked save, though Webcam Toy was able to capture an image from the Chromebook’s camera and save it directly to Google Drive without issue.
Another feature that isn’t working yet is offline support — but that’s coming, too. Google Docs offline access works just fine on Chrome OS if you’ve got the app installed, so it’s likely just a matter of retooling things — though some controls will need to be added. Now that Google Drive is hoovering up files from Windows and Mac systems and Android devices, Google will need to make sure that we can select individual folders and files to push to our Chromebooks’ minimal internal storage.
With a window manager, taskbar, and flexible access to Google Drive coming together, Chrome OS is steadily evolving into more than just a bootable web browser.
Article source: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/chrome-os-gets-first-taste-of-google-drive-integration-20120430/
Tags: Chrome OS, Google Docs, Google Drive, Webcam Toy, Wi Fi
There’s a new kid on the block, and it’s easy. If you’ve had it with Windows maintenance and aren’t a Mac fan, the new Google Chrome operating system, Chrome OS, is something to consider. We just bought one of these new-fangled Chrome laptops.
Don’t confuse Chrome OS with Chrome, the Web browser, though it’s easy to do. The “OS” stands for operating system, which is what runs the machine; plain Chrome is a Web browser. It’s as if Microsoft decided to name their Web browser “Windows” instead of Internet Explorer. Or Apple named theirs “Mac” instead of Safari. (Who knows what strange decisions take place in corporate meetings?)
The Chrome OS works only on Chrome laptops, called Chromebooks. It is hassle-free and stone simple. Forget about anti-virus, anti-spyware, defragmenting programs and other system utilities, this thing takes care of itself. And it’s fast. Push the on button and boot-up is almost instantaneous. Unlike Windows and Mac, updates to new versions of the software are free. For the upcoming Windows 8, for example, due out this summer, we would either have to buy a new computer with the software already installed or pay Microsoft’s price for the upgrade package. But we’ll get every new version of the Chrome OS for free, automatically updated every six weeks. We like the new “beta” version. Now the desktop looks like a Windows, Mac or iPad screen.
Almost everything the Chromebook can do takes place in the Google Cloud. Printing, listening to music, doing email, photo editing and playing games were all easy to do and use. The Chromebook can send a print job to any printer connected to a laptop that’s online, after a simple set-up. The print job first goes into Google’s Cloud Print, and is then downloaded to the printers you designate. In our tests, it worked perfectly.
Chrome OS has a “file manager” that organizes whatever you download. The file manager can open Word docs, PowerPoint files, spreadsheets, zip files, PDFs, html, MP4 and other music formats, and almost all image formats. Google Docs works offline, so you don’t have to be in Wi-Fi range to compose your manuscript.
We bought the Acer AC 700 Chromebook at Amazon because it was cheaper than Samsung’s model. We got the version with both a cellular 3G connection and Wi-Fi for $406. There’s also a Wi-Fi-only version for $300. The one with 3G comes with 100 megabytes of data per month for two years. That’s enough to send 200 emails a day when you’re out of range of Wi-Fi, and there’s no contract if you splurge on more. (NOTE: If you have a 3G or 4G phone, you can tether it to the cheaper Chromebook, saving yourself $100 while still enjoying the convenience of a cellular connection.) The Chromebook weighs 2.7 pounds without the charger and has about six hours of battery life. There’s a built-in camera for video conferencing and a port for connection to an HD TV. The trackpad is lousy, so plug in a mouse.
If you like your Windows programs, however, stick with them. Joy, for example, loves her Web editing software, greeting card programs, SnagIt and CaptureWiz and wouldn’t want to give them up.
FUNDRAISING ONLINE
Kickstarter gets a ton of publicity as a way for organizations to raise money online. For individuals, Crowdtilt might be a better option.
We saw examples of people who raised money for a baby gift, an urban garden, a party, a high school reunion and so on. You set a goal and invite friends to donate. Their credit cards are charged only if the campaign “tilts,” meaning you reached your goal. The funds either get deposited in your bank account or your PayPal account. Post videos or photos to provide a little enticement for your fundraising. The site uses Facebook accounts so potential donors know who they’re donating to. The downside is that Crowdtilt collects 2.5 percent of the amount you raise. Still, this is a fairly nice way to put your hand out.
BUSINESS APPS
A free iPhone/iPad app called FileMaker Go 12 runs iPhone/iPad apps you can create with the Filemaker popular database. It’s been downloaded over 100,000 times in the first week.
It’s often a good idea to create your own apps. The Berklee College of Music in Boston created an iPad app to manage audition data for 7,000 musicians worldwide. Instead of lugging heavy laptops, the faculty and staff now use their iPads to follow 300 domestic and 30 overseas auditions. They organize schedules, view videos and bring in student ID numbers from the old database.
Filemaker Pro 12 is a $300 program from filemaker.com. There’s a free trial. A cheaper version called “Bento” sells for $49 and is for Macs only. (Bento is Japanese for box.)
APP HAPPY
Listomatic has got to be the simplest list-making iPhone app we’ve seen. There’s a plus sign for adding a task and an “edit” button to delete or change it. You can email the list.
MagicPlan for the iPhone measures your rooms and draws floor plans from the pictures you take of your place. (Attention screen writers: possible plot gimmick for high-tech caper movies.)
Happly for the iPad has free educational games, videos, books, “how-tos,” animal lessons and cartoons. Under the “weird and wacky” category, we learned that the longest nose on a living person is 3.46 inches. (Who measured all those noses?) The “how to” section has instructions on how to make a telescope out of reading glasses.
Kidfolio is a social network scrapbook for parents. Track your child’s growth and look back over a timeline of memories. And of course don’t forget to send photo cards.
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Article source: http://www.telegram.com/article/20120429/COLUMN81/104299972/1002/business
Tags: Chrome OS, Filemaker Pro, Google Chrome, Google Cloud, reunion, Wi Fi
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tech career Josh Woodward: “It’s exciting to be on the ground floor of something like this,” the Google Chrome project manager said.
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Josh Woodward gets some odd responses when he tells his Google co-workers in Silicon Valley that he’s from Oklahoma.
“There’s always a little bit of a reaction,” he said. “The question is typically, ‘How did you get here?’ ”
How Woodward got to the Google Inc. headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is almost as interesting as where he is now – project manager for Google’s Chrome operating system, which is used to power computers completely oriented toward tasks on the Web. Specifically, Woodward is a manager on the Chrome OS user interface team.
He said designing an entire computer operating system around a Web browser is a challenge because traditional operating systems have trained people to keep the various programs they use stored on their computers.
“My job on the user interface side is to help make sure that users can get to the functions they want to use, like email, quickly,” he said. “We want to reveal to users that there are alternatives to old-world programs online.”
Still, he’s confident that users will begin to embrace Chrome and use it as an operating system, as Google is noticing that more of what average people want to do on their computers is oriented around the Web.
“It’s exciting to be on the ground floor of something like this, which can change the way people look at computing,” Woodward said.
Yet he didn’t always envision a career in tech. Although he helped set up web feeds of sports events at Deer Creek High School in Edmond more than a decade ago – the feeds hit a peak of 70 people, which he called “exciting in the pre-YouTube days” – he went on to get bachelor’s degrees in economics and marketing with a minor in history by the time he graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2006.
Woodward then earned a master of arts degree in comparative government from St. Anne’s College in Oxford, England, which, oddly enough, is how he connected with Google.
“I got an internship in Google-London, where I worked with small businesses to learn about Google products,” he said.
Although Woodward originally planned to go on and get a doctorate, he decided to see where Google would take him.
He said the Internet giant strongly values tech-related internships when hiring employees, along with a general bent toward creativity and weird interests that has become known as “Googliness.”
“I talked about woodworking and building clocks in my interview,” he said.
Woodward comes back to Oklahoma every two or three months, in part to mentor entrepreneurship and computer science students at OU’s Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth.
Although Oklahoma isn’t the first place people think of when it comes to digital technology, Woodward tells students that getting hired by companies such as Google isn’t just a pipe dream.
They might not even have to travel too far from home. Google recently announced an expansion of its $700 million data center near Pryor, which will add 50 employees to its current roster of 100.
Or students may find themselves taking the more adventurous route traveled by Woodward.
“Silicon Valley seems like a distant concept for Oklahoma students, but it’s really not that far of a stretch,” he said.
Original Print Headline: OU grad carves out path to Google
Robert Evatt 918-581-8447
robert.evatt@tulsaworld.com
Article source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20120429_52_E1_CUTLIN135793
Tags: Chrome OS, Google Chrome, Josh Woodward, Original Print Headline, OU, Silicon Valley
