Derived Regulation
Harnessing tech to address a nation's challenges
by Lim Sheng Ming , Brunei Darussalam
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Google Chrome OS test drive
Nov 22, 2009 20:09Know why they call it the "bleeding edge of technology"? Because most of the time you feel like slitting your wrists.
The ubber-developer-only version of Chrome OS is barely out of the stables and we're all already tripping over ourselves trying to install the darn thing. Already having VirtualBox installed, I followed TechCrunch's instructions and was up and running pretty quick.
But then the system froze. And it would continue to freeze within 5 minutes of bootup each and every time. I tried re-downloading the packaged images and recreating the virtual drive, but for the life of me I just could not get the system to last more than 5 minutes. I'm using the VMware image with VirtualBox, so that may account for my problems. But I haven't had much luck with any other alternatives: The VirtualBox image that was briefly made available did not work and nor did using VMware Server. People running VMware Fusion on the Mac seem to be faring better, though.
During my (very brief) sessions of actually using Chrome OS, it feels little more than proof of concept. It's very rough around the edges but otherwise functional (5-minute freezing aside). The related post over at the Chrome Blog has videos describing the features. I really wanted to try connecting a USB device as shown in the video, but it just didn't work for me.
It's far too early to conclude much, but what's been made available doesn't feel too different from what's around today. Anyone can bookmark their favorite office productivity Web sites (Google Docs, Zoho etc...) and "pin" them to their browser user interface. The idea of panels isn't terribly new, either. But I'm still willing to bet Google's got an ace hidden somewhere up its sleeve.
- Talkback
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Have you tried Parallels with Chrome OS? Not I, but it may just solve the crashing problem? BTW, isn't Chrome OS just another flavour of Linux?
Nov 24, 2009 10:39
I didn't try Parallels because I'm not on a Mac. Everything described in the post was done on Windows XP.
Not really sure if Chrome OS is based on Linux but if it is then it must be a severely stripped down version of the kernal because it's essentially just a re-invention of the Chrome browser interface.
Dec 03, 2009 08:03
About Lim Sheng Ming
Tired of relatives misspelling his name, Lim Sheng Ming christened himself "LSM". Born in Brunei, he is currently based in intoxicating Japan where he is supposed to be doing research. A published writer, an accomplished Latin dancer, a Tai Chi practitioner and a committed Lifehacker, he still finds time to follow standards-based Web development and promote Internet accessibility. He is also one of the few who have switched from a Mac (but don't judge him for that).
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