The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
Summary: The best sign of hope may be Google eating its own dog food. I think we should all wait until they finish.
I have been running Windows (and hating it) for a quarter-century. One of my prize possessions is a copy of Windows 1.0, hand-signed by Bill Gates, who promises "the software will do the job."
It didn't. It doesn't.
My present hardware is obsolete. I'm in the market for something new. I have even used Linux desktops in the past, as readers here know.
But there's a problem. A quarter century of stuff, a quarter-century of habits. How much of the stuff will I lose access to, and how many of the habits must I change?
One reason I'm a good candidate is I have mainly switched to Windows open source programs. I use The Gimp. I like Chrome. I love Open Office. All come in Linux versions, I know.
But I also run iTunes and have a POP3 e-mailer (Thunderbird). The last should not be an obstacle, but I also must put a program in front of that e-mailer, called Mailwasher, because my ISP's filtering misses all the Viagra spam. (I know I'm over 50 -- I don't need the constant reminders.)
Fact is that these days any desktop change is a major hassle, which is why I'm using hardware from 2005. (Kelly Clarkson was on my hard drive, and the kids were still lined up to watch Revenge of the Sith in 2-D.)
My last switchover, from Windows to Windows, took nearly a week. Applications were transferred between hard drives, but since the drives were mirrored many of my desktop problems probably date from the 20th century.
I suspect my situation is not unusual. I'm a fairly typical subject of Windows tyranny. But I do stuff. I use CDs and DVDs for content, I like my WiFi, and I need all of that to transfer seamlessly. My previous experience in these areas were fiascos.
That is why the best sign of hope may be Google eating its own dog food. There are probably a lot of people in my situation at the Googleplex, and other Googlers are going to be wasting their valuable time in the next few months getting them crossed over, and they're going to lose productivity themselves.
My hope is that experience will teach Google some lessons they can apply to the rest of us. Knowing that their own people are very smart, while the rest of us have managed to protect our stupidity. It's those lessons that will make the difference between success and failure for the Chrome desktop.
I think we should all wait until they finish.
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Talkback
The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
I've been using computers for almost 30 years now and I still, sometimes, am made to feel like an idiot. I know you might consider that a weakness. I try to think of it as a strength, and use my stupidity in the service of finding better stories about average users.
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
i feel sorry for you. My last move from Windows to Windows took me about an hour. I still had some data left over but that was easily moved.
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
Average people come to the computer store or car mechanic or dentist office or what ever and they feel vulnerable. They are out of their element, they feel insecure an ignorant, and they are afraid of making the wrong choice or even of being cheated by the sales person. We all here perhaps do not feel this way in a computer store, but we all have felt this way many times before.
This is why Apple adds and apple stores work so well. They make people feel more comfortable and not intimidated. The whole sales pitch of apple is ?Macs are for people, PCs are for stuffy businessmen.?
Are you purposely making Windows harder then it actually is?
My brother, who isn't all that computer literate, (far from it to be truthfull) managed to backup his data to an external drive, upgrade his Windows, and reinstall his programs and data. (He did need some help with a driver)
Yet talking to many here, Linux is harder to initially configure and use, yet we're to assume that its all as easy as pie to you.
Something doesn't sound right here, IMHO.
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
<i>Yet talking to many here, Linux is harder to initially configure and use, yet we're to assume that its all as easy as pie to you.</i>
Depending on the hardware, linux can be much easier to install than windows. If all your hardware is recognized right away, then you could have fully operational system within 30 minutes. This would include things like office aps which you would need to install separately on windows. Windows XP takes me a long time to install even for custom OEM CDs just because it takes for ever to download and install all of the patches and service packs. On top of that I would need to install anti-virus, other software - such as Office, and drivers for hardware that did not come with the computer.
I found windows 7 installation not as easy as Linux, but much faster than XP.
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
Apple isn't any better but just because Apple is tyrant doesn't make Microsoft any less of Tyrant. Just pick your poison.
Too much freedom though can be overwhelming as is the case with Linux. You are free to do so much but with that freedom comes a lot of work. Or you can try to run Linux like you were under a tyrant and you'd worse off. I suspect Google will be no different in the end.
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
So where is the tyranny in Microsoft?
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
Wait til early next year, but an ultra thin sandybridge latop
Boo Hoo, Windows beat me up :*(
Do you seriously not have anything better to write about than Windows 1.0? of course that shit sucked, you're talking about the Model T of OS's. which incidentally has about jack squat to do with modern day windows 7. If you can't even handle windows how am I supposed to take your opinion on anything tech related seriously?
Windows 7 is nice, but Microsoft did have some impressive bugs.
My problem with windows and microsoft are restrictions and lock in. Sure, compared to Apple, Microsoft is a beacon of freedom, but that is hardly a consolation.
However, microsoft worked hard to earn it's bad reputation in security and stablitiy. They had some amazing F-ups in the past. For example, it took less than 20 minutes for a computer connected to the net with fresh install of XP SP1 to be infected without any intervetion from the user. There were viruses embedded in JPG files, emails that could infect your computer even if you did not open them and bug paches that did not fix bugs they were meant to fix.
Many of you don't get it: Dana is a fairly intelligent guy
More generally people often feel vulnerable when it comes to technology. Have you ever been in a wedding and you needed to pick out your tux? Did you feel overwhelmed by all the choices of ties, cufflinks, vests, and all other items which you were supposed to pick out, but you knew nothing about them? Did you ever go to a car mechanic and have him tell you that you need some expensive repair, and you think that he might be trying to cheat you, but you were not sure? That?s how people feel when it comes to computers and other consumer electronics.
RE: The perfect candidate for a Chrome desktop
The MCSE is a strange beast
He (like Zern above) says its trivial to upgrade (even my brother could do it), ignoring the help that was required (troubled by drivers).
He doesn't see a problem with a dozen SKUs for a basic operating system.
He'll mock other OSes (even refusing the offer to move) as inferior whilst forgiving data loss or running around looking for copies of the installation disk to re-image.
He'll fight for years against a feature (e.g. restricted permission accounts, almost everything in Mac OS X) until it is adopted by windows (then points to it as a blessing).
Dana express the frustrations of many. We meet them at BBQs and outings. Millions of households unhappy with their computers, frustrated with their misunderstanding, seeking assistance with anyone that works in our field.
I respond I don't do windows and enjoy my beer!
I'm retired and loving it.
I ran Win 3.1 on a 12 mHz 286 because I had some software that required Windows. beyond that. I used it to access my DOS programs which ran much faster and did what I wanted to do, my way. Every succeeding version of Windows on later computers slowed me down and reduced flexibility. Oh, yeah, it looked sharp and I used fewer and fewer keystrokes to run programs, I loved the mouse, but soon it took forever to print (on my 9 pin) because I found myself relying more and more on graphics. Point is, now though I can do so much on the 'net, I really feel hamstrung with my computer running Win7 compared to what I could do back then, and all my previous experience is basically useless. I'm a progress lover, but not at the expense of losing all the capabilities I had built up. Now I can glance to the right of my desktop and see the date, time and weather. But I can't put a custom spreadsheet together.
I can really identify, and yeah, Chrome looks tempting
But still, it's hard to keep up. You still have to update all these packages often, there are always new OS versions and new app versions with more features to re-install - it's still tiring. I love web based apps like Gmail and other Google apps because I don't have to maintain anything but an up to date browser, and I don't have to 'sync' my email onto various devices, it's all in the cloud.
Of course, we're a long way from having a true Gimp or video editor or OOo equivalent in web apps, and before you can go with something like Chrome - well, you need to have every app that you need with a viable web based alternative. Chrome is hugely tempting but also hugely premature. I wonder why there aren't more attempts to take some of this Free Open Source software and host online versions of it. Seems like a quick and dirty way to implement a cloud ecosystem sooner rather than later.
At any rate, Chrome OS may be perfectly mature, but it hardly matters. It's the online apps that will make or break it, and at this point they just aren't there. Google needs to concentrate on improving and rounding out their online apps and encouraging a lot more development in that area. When the apps are ready, then people will move to a browser based OS without any prodding whatsoever. At this point, it's the cart before the horse.