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Chrome OS: We all know about Chrome, the lightweight, lightening-fast browser. But is it smart enough to form the basis of an entire operating system? The answer is—you guessed it—of course. The open source Google Chrome OS (not to be confused with the Android operating system for mobile phones) is expected to see a first stable release in the second half of 2010, and is specifically aimed at netbooks to begin with. ‘Speed, simplicity and security’ are the key features of Chrome OS, and in their own words, it’s an attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.
Based on Linux, the Chrome OS turns the basic concept of an operating system on its head. The main interface of the system will the browser, with applications incorporated like web pages in a tab strip. Of course, Google will retain the Chrome browser’s minimalist interface, and are said to be working towards security nuts and bolts in such a way as to make viruses and other malware history.
Aimed at users who primarily spend most of their time online, Chrome OS is rumoured to favour solid state drives—as seen in a wide selection of Netbooks—over regular hard drives. As to whether it can muscle out Windows as a preferred operating system is something only time will tell.
Google Wave: The latest wave to have crashed upon the Google shore is a real-time communication and collaboration tool called Google Wave. It is still in ‘preview’ status, and one has to sign up for an invite.
Wave merges email, instant messaging and social networking to form the ultimate Web-based collaborative service. A ‘wave’ is equal parts document and conversation, where people can communicate and work together, using not just text, but photos, videos, maps and so on. Wave users share and collaborate equally, and one can turn back to see who said what and when. Also, a wave is live, that is, the working, sharing, discussing, editing all happens in real time. Whether it is working on collaborative projects, exchanging post-holiday photos, playing games, or conducting an official meeting, Google Wave helps us integrate the Web a little bit more in our everyday lives.
In keeping with their open source policy, the code of Google Wave will be released to allow developers as well as users to build extensions that will support additional features, including the possibility of embedding the service on Websites.
Google Go: The company is also developing a brand new, open source programming language—Google Go—whose USP is performance and speed. Despite leaps and bounds in hardware, the software that runs this technology is a dinosaur from the past. Go is Google’s attempt to help programming language catch up with hardware and web developments in an efficient manner. At present Go compilers are available for Linux and Mac OS platforms, but a Windows implementation is on the horizon. Unlike what the Merry Melodies toons tell us, with Google, ‘that’s certainly not all, folks.’ Watch this space.
Payal Dhar is a freelance technology writer
