Just random braindump from reading the article:<p>> 1. It’s very hard to get all the hardware makers to create drivers (or create them yourself) for your OS.<p>This is simply wrong, because Google isn't building an OS from scratch; they're using Linux.<p>> 2. It’s very hard to get all the software makers to create versions of their software that’ll work on your OS.<p>Also wrong. Many applications exist that already run on Google Chrome OS. They're called webapps. That's sort of the point.<p>>First of all, nobody seems to appreciate how goddamn hard it is to make an operating system. You don't just wake up one day and fall out of bed and make one.<p>Does NOBODY read the press releases? It's based on Linux! They have most of the work already done for them!
I can only think of two major hardware support issues:<p>-Graphics drivers. Google won't be using X so that will require some work. I imagine both Intel and NVIDIA will be happy to comply. Intel has a strong commitment to OSS drivers and NVIDIA can ship a closed source driver. No problems there.<p>-iPods. This one is tricky. They could rely on the existing OSS code but they risk breakage or support for bleeding edge devices. Google would be wise to approach Apple and try to work something out.<p>Everything else should be well supported by Linux. I was impressed that Ubuntu 9 fully supported my celluar data card including a nice setup wizard. Google should definitely keep this in mind for ChromeOS as 3G cards are probably among the most common devices attached to netbooks.
Good sum up. Amazing amount of hysteria. Especially liked the comment by The Register on Techcrunch..<p>NB. Wanted to comment, sucky comment box, did not bother trying to figure out why it is wonky.. Simply gave up.
I love the way the author picked all the essentials from everywhere around the web and combined them together in a comprehensive format.<p>I do tend to agree that a web based OS is the way to go. Its not going to happen tomorrow, next year or 5 years down the line. But it will be the future. Every piece of software you use will be a web app with bunch load of analytics/monitored with a recommendation engine. I know it will go through a lot of skepticism for privacy reasons, but there will be laws amended to make sure that google or no one owns it. The web apps will be such that they are centric to mobile based smart phones and adobe air like software at the start and slowly adapt. Its the future, and I for one is already working towards achieving it for our apps. :)<p>-Ujjwal