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Google and the Desktops (or Laptops)

Summary: How Google's operating system for desktops and laptops is shaping up, and what can be said about it from a freedom advocate's perspective

GOOGLE'S Chrome OS, which is becoming one of the world's most widespread GNU/Linux distributions for the desktop, is receiving more coverage these days [1] (it's mostly positive and optimistic). Capitalising on the success of Android and increasingly converging with it [2] for development [3] and apps, Chrome OS seems to have a future of relatively high presence if not worldwide domination (Chrome OS is for desktops and laptops, not mobile devices, which is where Android now dominates). Chrome OS very much revolves around the Web browser, which is not surprising given Google's core business.



Recently, in order to improve perceptions of Chrome security, Google offered cash prizes [4] and tackled allegations of eavesdropping (by accident [5-8]). There are some attempts, including poor ones [9], to discredit Chrome using "security", especially now that a new release comes out [10-12], eliminating Flash in the process (at least for GNU/Linux and its Free version of Chrome, called Chromium [13]).

Chrome OS and Chrome are proprietary, but they have Free/open source surrogates, Chromium OS and Chromium. They are privacy-infringing, but they are generally more benign than the proprietary software which still dominates in desktops and laptops.

Related/contextual items from the news:


  1. What Chrome OS Needs to Expand Adoption
    Back in 2012, I did a comparison between Chrome OS and Ubuntu. I examined the areas where each operating system differed and I also touched on a few of their similarities. In this piece, I'll take it a step further and examine how Chrome OS is close to filling the OS gap, yet might need some improvements in key areas before the masses begin dumping Windows to migrate to it.


  2. Chrome apps come to Android


  3. Google Delivers Developer Tools for Apps for Android and iOS
    It was back in September of last year that the Google Chrome team delivered an extensive post up heralding "packaged apps" that work with Chrome, which the team obviously felt could become a game-changer for Google's browser. "These apps are more powerful than before, and can help you get work done, play games in full-screen and create cool content all from the web," wrote the Chrome team. Many of us have tried some of these apps and experienced how they make the browser feel almost like an operating system underlying applications.


  4. Pwnium hackathon: Google offers nearly $3 million in rewards


  5. Chrome Eavesdropping, Balkanized Internet & More…
    It’s convoluted and unlikely, perhaps, but there’s a way that websites can trick the Chrome browser into leaving the mic open, allowing who knows whom to eavesdrop.


  6. Speech recognition hack turns Google Chrome into advanced bugging device


  7. Google dismisses eavesdropping threat in Chrome feature


  8. Security Alert: Google Chrome
    Right now I'm glad I never used Chrome.


  9. Spammers buy Chrome extensions and turn them into adware
    Changes in Google Chrome extension ownership can expose thousands of users to aggressive advertising and possibly other threats, two extension developers have recently discovered.


  10. Chrome 33 Beta: Custom Elements, Web Speech Synthesis


  11. New Google Chrome 32 Release Fixes Mouse Pointer and Quicktime Issues


  12. Chrome 33 Beta: Custom Elements, Web Speech, and more
    Today’s Chrome Beta channel release kicks off the new year with a slew of new features for developers ranging from Custom Elements, to web speech synthesis and improved WebFont downloading. Unless otherwise noted, changes apply to desktop versions of Chrome and Chrome for Android.


  13. Use Chromium on Linux? Adobe Flash Will Stop Working From April
    Google are to drop support for the ‘Netscape Plugin API’ (NPAPI) – used by Adobe Flash – on Linux builds of Chrome/ium far sooner than was originally planned.

    The ageing plugin architecture, which allows for unrestricted access to a computer, is considered inefficient and insecure, with Google calling it ‘the leading cause of hangs, crashes, and security incidents’.




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