OPEN BYTES – cave quid dicis, quando, et cui.

Information released!

After much speculation (and a few faked screenshots) it appears we finally have word from Google as to what & when.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we’re already talking to partners about the project, and we’ll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve. Source: Googleblog

There can be little doubt that after the success of its search engine and the popularity of its other services that Google pretty much knows its customers.  In my opinion Google has what some other companies do not and that is honest champions/advocates of their services/products.  How many people have you heard complain about Google in the average computing environment?

Ever since the news broke of the Google OS we’ve had many thinkers regarding it.  We see the frightened (Wintrolls in comp.alt.linux.advocacy) the over enthusiastic (the promoters of fake screenshots) and the “lets wait and see”.  Now we get further details.

It is being reported that the Google OS (which is browser based) will offer most of its services online and the user having their data stored on Google servers.  There’s been much debate about this (and surrounding topics) and the Do you trust your data to be stored in the cloud? is probably one of the issues that will come out of this eventual release.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. Source: Googleblog

Users of Chrome OS will reportedly not have to worry about updating their software and having other advantages, one being a 7 second boot time (allegedly) IMO there really is much to look forward to when the finished product hits the shelves.  The OS itself is apparently going to be free, with Google working with manufacturers to further provide a better integration between their software and hardware.

Chrome OS is reported to be its own Windowing system on top on a Linux kernel and I think shows yet again that worth of Linux and its community.  I have documented my use of Chromium since its early builds and I must say that the layout (providing it resembles the OS) is intuitive, friendly and quick.

Google also made this statement:

We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better.

and in my opinion its a shame Microsoft didn’t listen to that message (IMO).

The Chrome OS is aimed at Netbooks and whilst we are on the subject of Netbooks earlier in the year Windows 7 for the netbook, hardly got the glowing praise with Tomshardware.com noting that Windows 7 took 2.5 hours off your battery life and benchmark tests between 7 and XP showed XP outperforming 7 in most tests.  Is that what Microsoft wants to hear when its trying to get in with 7 on the netbook?

So whilst there has been more information released it still leaves many questions unanswered.  Will Chrome support Silverlight? (or does anyone care?) What about drivers for existing and new hardware?  Is Google considering its OS for anything other than Netbooks?

Lets remember what Mr Ballmer CEO of Microsoft had to say about Google (allegedly)

Google’s not a real company. It’s a house of cards.

Source: Techcrunch

Try not to be too hard on him though.  His “teacher” (IMO) Bill Gates said in the 90’s:

The Internet? We are not interested in it

and another alleged comment that Bill Gates made (which may ring some bells with Windows users)

If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good.

Source: http://www.quotesandsayings.com/quotes/bill-gates/ (and theres many more Gates crackers there too)

Microsoft scared?

To ask if Microsoft is scared is wrong.  Microsoft is not a person.  Detractors to Linux make many claims, they would like you to believe its a hobbyist platform.  They would like you to believe its difficult to use.  They would like you to believe that it won’t be compatible with your hardware.  I would put money on similar being said about Chrome OS.

I think Google’s move to produce this software shows an attitude change in the average computer user.  We no longer need to rely on Microsoft to get jobs done in my opinion and there are many alternatives to Microsoft products, either proprietary or indeed FOSS.

The BBC seem to think the Chrome OS will have an impact on the market:

….could dramatically change the market for operating systems, especially for Microsoft…

It certainly will be interesting next year.  Bring on Chrome OS!

Sources

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8369611.stm

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

http://technologizer.com/2009/11/19/chrome-os/

Goblin – bytes4free@googlemail.com

A large set of exploits popped up in Microsoft's Windows security update. How secure do you feel with the platform and how, IMO can a FOSS platform be more secure than a proprietary one?

Today, its being reported that Microsoft has released it’s largest batch of patches for its Windows platform.  Dubbed “Patch Tuesday” Microsoft are releasing fixes for many vulnerabilities.

The most noteable one of these is a series of 8 different bugs within the GDI component of Windows, consequently affecting Vista, XP, Server 2003 + 2008 and its .Net framework to mention a few.    Its being reported that fixes to 34 vulnerabilities are being released which does beg the question, how much faith do you have in the security of Microsoft products?  Sure they have released patches to exploitable holes, but how many more are they and why (in the case of XP) is the system still proving vulnerable after all this time?

Never let it be said that Microsoft doesn’t offer a wide selection of vulnerabilities and exploits in its software.  How many more vulnerabilities and exploits have yet to be found?  In this age of online crime just how many more warnings do Windows users need?  It’s often argued that Linux is more secure only because its market penetration is smaller.  Whilst to some extent that may be true, in my opinion the fact remains it still is the securer platform.  Time to look elsewhere?  With one of the vulnerabilities allegedly being targetted by cyber criminals in the last week, one has to wonder how much longer Windows users will take the risk online.

Allegedly 2/3rd’s of the patches have been listed by Microsoft as “critical” which is Microsofts designation for the most serious rating.  The Washington Post quotes Taylor Reguly of nCircle as saying:

Again we see a month of client-side issues in almost every major Microsoft product….whether you run Office, Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer, .NET or just Windows itself, there’s a vulnerability for you

Prior to the security patches being released, Jerry Bryant of Microsoft made an announcement:

Usually we do not go into this level of detail in the advance notification but we felt that it is important guidance so customers can plan accordingly and deploy these updates as soon as possible

and even the most devoted (IMO) of Microsoft advocates (and a person we have crossed paths with before) Andre Da Costa seemed to be waiting with baited breath for this update when he said on his Twitter:

I crave Patch Tuesdays

and with the list of fixes to potential exploits in Windows, you can understand why.

LINKS

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139317/Researcher_sees_Patch_Tuesday_nightmare_

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2354169,00.asp

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j5Xl8ruQxmd-Z9s0yQ96bBgNOacAD9BAEBCG0

Goblin – bytes4free@googlemail.com