Google releasing new brand of laptops featuring Google Chrome OS
by ANTHONY PARADISO
Staff Writer
Millions of people have heard of the famed company Google, mostly through its huge search engine and web browser, Google Chrome. Now Google is taking the next step by releasing a new brand of laptop running Google’s own brand new operating system called Chrome OS.
The new “Chromebooks” boot up in just eight seconds. They will not use a hard drive but rather a cloud system, so that any saved data can be accessed from anywhere. Users can open all of their files from an entirely different computer that is also running Chrome OS.
With the Google cloud, users will not have to worry about losing any personal information in case of a crash or virus. There will be no need to constantly back up information because it will be done automatically.
Google states on their website that “Chromebooks are built and optimized for the web,” so many of the features will rely on Internet access. The Chromebook will come in two models, one that supports WiFi as well as 3G and one that only supports WiFi. Models with 3G will include 100 MB of free mobile data a month from Verizon Wireless.
The laptops automatically update themselves without annoying pop-up prompts. All web apps also update automatically over time. All of the content on the Chromebook, including the OS itself, stays up to date.
Chrome OS is based on the Google Chrome web browser, but will also contain some offline features like camera connectivity. Many web apps can even be accessed offline with HTML5. The operating system will also use Gmail, Google Maps and other Google software.
The new laptops are receiving overall good comments. Freshman Kenneth Sandoval says, “As with any new operating system, it will be strange at first. The cloud and the laptops themselves look cool.”
With so many other laptop brands and operating systems out on the market today including Windows 7, Mac OS X v10.6 and even Linux, Chrome OS may be difficult to sell. There is already a lot of competition between Microsoft and Apple, so Google joining the fray may not be a wise decision.
However, Google believes it has a chance because Microsoft’s netbook sales have declined and there has not been a demand for Intel processors. The new Chromebooks will be available starting June 15.