gOS: The Conceptual Google Operating System

Earlier this week Everex launched the gPC TC2502, which is a sub-$200 PC sold at a major US retailer, but what makes this unique is that it runs the gOS. The gOS (GreenOS) is designed to be a conceptual Google Operating System that is based upon Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon. Though this is not the conventional GNOME desktop environment but an Enlightenment E17 desktop is used that is heavily modified and reflects a green Google theme. The gOS provides easy access to Google services such as YouTube, Google Product Search, Google Calendar, and Google Maps. Also a click away are other web services such as Wikipedia and Facebook. This isn't a pure Internet desktop but Xine, Skype, OpenOffice.org, and other applications are available for this Linux LiveCD. We've been trying the gOS out for a while and it's a rather nice slim desktop Linux distribution that would be perfect for Internet cafes and other public places.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=902&num=1

Can Google and Wal-Mart break the Microsoft desktop monopoly?

Despite the great hype, both here and elsewhere, over Everex’ new “Google PC” this may be less than meets the eye.

Or it could be more.

It may be less because the Everex gPC TC2502 is not much of a computer. It runs a 1.5 MHz processor, with just 512Megabytes of RAM and there’s no monitor. It looks, in fact, like a stranger from the mid-1980s.

A version of the same PC, running Windows Vista, was released in July for $298, also through Wal-Mart, as a back-to-school item. This is the picture we ran with that story. The New York Times ran the same picture with its story today.

But the price point here is just $199, and it does run Open Office, and there’s no reason why, if this does well for Christmas, Everex couldn’t bring out new versions which are more attractive, even laptops.

The GOS (Google Operating System) being shipped is actually just a version of Linux licensed through Google, which includes fast access to things like Google Mail, and Google Documents (although you can also run Open Office for that).

The keys to the story, of course, are the brand names — Google and Wal-Mart. Combine Google’s branding power with Wal-Mart’s distribution and you have a very mighty force indeed.

But what happens when these buyers need tech support, as they will? Will Wal-Mart handle the back-end of these transactions well, or poorly? Is Everex scaled to handle it? Who’s going to connect these things to the Internet, which seems like an essential service for them? What happens when these poor buyers get the bill for that service?

And if it does turn into a Christmas fiasco, will the companies get another shot at the market?

blogs.zdnet.com

TechGear: November is Google month

The month of November kicks off with wide-ranging chatter about new Google products designed to clobber Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Palm and other industry giants.

First, everyone is talking about the "Google PC" and the "Google Phone." We know almost everything about the Google PC (Note: the name Google PC is mine and is not an official designation) and almost nothing about the Google Phone, which should be unveiled later in the month.

The Google PC is a $200 PC built by Taiwan's Everex called the gPC that has just shown up at Wal-Mart stores. The PC runs not Microsoft Windows or Office, but instead a Linux variant called gOS, which emphasizes Google applications, sites and services. It's also marketed as environmentally friendly.

I expect the OpenSocial initiative. Your eyes may glaze over at the announcement of a set of application programming interfaces -- basically an interface for developers to use for writing software applications -- but the initiative will surely change the world. It means at minimum that instead of going from Friendster to Linked-In to Plaxo to whatever other "social" sites you frequent to check in on friends and make changes to your pages, you'll be able to do so from a single place. Your favorite social network can become all your social networks.

As recently as October, Facebook was the flavor of the month. But OpenSocial leaves that social network as the odd man out and provides an incentive for developers to stop building Facebook applications, which work only on Facebook, and start building OpenSocial applications, which will work on dozens of sites.

For Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Palm and others, "Google Month" brings unwelcome competition and price pressure.

But for end users, announcements during "Google Month" mean potentially cheaper and easier computing and communication.

www.computerworld.com