I'm Going to Have Three OSs Running on My Laptop

So Google has finally done it. Chrome OS. The first (actually second) Google operating system. Here is the initial announcement from the Official Google Blog.

As with most things Google I will give it a shot when it comes out. I already have Windows 7 (beta) and Ubuntu running on my laptop. I'll make it a triple boot and add Chrome OS too. (I should also update to the latest Ubuntu at the same time. We'll see)

By the sound of it this really isn't being seen as a replacement for Windows... yet. In the future it sure will be, but for now it looks like they are just pitching a tiny, bare bones operating system that you can use on a slow, low powered machine that will get you booted quickly and get you onto the web so you can use Google Apps for things you would normally use desktop applications for. I am all for that myself.I have Word at work, and Open Office at work, on my desktop at home, and on my laptop. I'm really not a fan of any of them. Google's word processor and spreadsheet are sort of minimal, but they more than meet my meager office software needs. I like the sound of an OS that pushes everything onto the web.

Of course the argument then falls to where does my hardware go? Will it be able to handle unloading my cameras? Will I be able to play my own music and video files? Will I eventually have the means to record multi-track audio? Maybe... maybe not. If it's as bare and simple as it sounds I would lean toward no. That means I remain a Windows/Linux, and possibly at some point in the future Apple guy (bring on GarageBand babie!).

There is also the little problem with the Chrome browser being, in my very limited experience, a real piece of shit. It is the crash happiest application I have ever seen. Granted, on my work machine every application is crash happy. Firefox crashes regularly, but Chrome crashes constantly. If I open more than one or two tabs I am guaranteed to crash. At home on my super suped up desktop that runs faster than light it still crashes pretty regularly. Chrome just seems to suck. Let's hope they don't have similar problems with Chrome OS, or we'll be fondly reminiscing about the blue screen of death.

Still... bring it on. I'll try it out. I'm looking forward to it. Chrome OS and Mac OS X will both be running on top of Linux. There's nothing wrong with that. Besides, anyone who wants to take a shot at knocking that chip off of Microsoft's shoulder (and in the process knocking off a chunk of the OS market share) is worthy of applause in my insignificant little book.

Go get 'em Google!