After two weeks living in the cloud as part of the Google’s Pilot Program for its Chrome operating system and the Cr-48 laptop, I find the whole thing rather dull; that’s a good thing though.
The Pilot Program is fairly simple and straight forward. On the site Google explains...
The Pilot Program is fairly simple and straight forward. On the site Google explains...
The Chrome operating system is a work in progress. We’re looking for the right users to try it out and tell us how we can make it better. Each participant in the Pilot program will receive a Cr-48 Chrome notebook; in return, we'll expect you to use it regularly and send us detailed feedback. Sound interesting? Please note:
The Pilot program is open to individuals, businesses, schools, non-profits and developers based in the United States.Learn about Chrome notebooks for business
Applicants must be at least 18 years of age. We'll review the requests that come in and contact you if you've been selected.
For the most part I have been able to live in the cloud with little to no use of my Window’s PC or Laptop. My job requires me to use several proprietary programs and a VPN connection when I’m out of the office. In my personal use I have only had one instance that I needed to fire up a Window’s laptop and I’m not sure it was due to the Chrome OS or just bad site design. For some reason while attempting to pay for an airline ticket via Orbitz, the site would give an error message saying that my address was incorrect for the card I was using. No big deal, but had if I didn’t have another laptop/PC available, it could have been an issue.
As an average user, the Cr-48 has been easy to use and for the most part trouble free. Sure there are still issues that need to be addressed, like file sharing, the ability to use external devices (HDD, SD cards, Printers etc...) and the ability to use Netflix. I don’t personally see a reason to worry about these issues until the 2nd or 3rd updates, if Google hasn’t addressed these issues by then “Houston we have a problem...”
Overall I am pleased with the software and the hardware, though under powered, seems to work well enough to give users a good idea of what cloud computing can be like. So much so, it’s actually dull, not a lot of bumps in the road. I know that there are issues for users that build software applications and edit media like photo’s, music and video; in it’s current state, cloud computing isn’t ready for those power users. But for average “joe’s & Jane’s” it’s more than capable. Saying my overall experience with the Cr-48 is dull isn’t a bad thing, it’s a good thing. No malware, viruses or tricky configuration issues, the things that make computing an adventure and a headache. Using the Cr-48 running Google’s Chrome OS on a daily basis is bland, no teeth gnashing, just a flight in the cloud with slight turbulence. I really like Chrome OS and I think millions of other “average users” will be very happy with a Chrome OS PC or laptop and all its dullness.
* This article was created and posted using Google ChromeOS and the Google ChromeOS netbook cr-48.
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