why ChromeOS is a great idea
- Windows XP needs to die.
- Vista and Win 7 are bloated too bloated for the thin-and-light laptops that most consumers want.
- All of the above — and even OS X — are over-featured for these same machines.
- Do I even need to poke fun at desktop Linux?
- In fact, as far as I can tell the “desktop OS” is basically a failure. Outside of computer professionals and “graphic designers,” most people just want to start their web browser. They can barely use the rest of their operating system past that — and they don’t want or need to, either.
- So building computers that are designed to do one thing, run a web browser, incredibly, and do it insanely well, is a great idea.
An example of “desktop OS” as failure: one of the fundamental conceits is that the screen would be a “desktop” upon which users could arrange documents represented in “windows.” Have you ever noticed that, regardless or screen size or resolution, most people run their browsers full screen? And iTunes! Fullscreen iTunes, like a damned spreadsheet for your music… I don’t get it, but I’m clearly the minority. Even apps like Photoshop are drifting toward full-screen apps with tabbing interfaces.
The Windows metaphor works great for for me and maybe you, but for most folks they’re just an unnecessary mess.
my prediction: the desktop OS : ChromeOS : 2010 :: IE6 : Firefox : 2006. Just referring to adoption among a particular class of users, mind you. There’s no one solution for everybody.
