[besson3c]

I would be.

Yes, Apple hardware is great and will surely be a catalyst to future sales, but surely some of their sales come from people wishing an alternative to Windows out of personal preference. This part of their draw may end up being threatened by this somewhat... Perhaps?

It will also be interesting to see what Google is able to do for Linux as a whole. The main things OS X has over Linux (and a very big thing, I'm not trying to cast this aside) is Aqua/the entire GUI layer, more and better driver support, and a wealth of applications including iTunes. It looks like Google is working on a whole new windowing system for Chrome, which ought to be interesting. I'm anxious to see what they do to help people run their Windows apps, or whether this weight is enough to get developers writing Linux/Chrome apps en masse.

There are a thousand ifs here, but the potential is exciting. Linux has some things that I would love today: a better file system, package management, the ability to configure more stuff for additional performance gains, SSHfs integration, some apps I like, etc. OS X obviously has a ton of stuff over Linux too, there is no denying this. What I'm wondering is when/if the scales will tip here for some people. I can't be the only one with a love/hate relationship with Apple

No speculation here, I'm just saying it will be interesting to see how this plays out. It certainly can't hurt having a company with the resources of Google working on this sort of stuff.

[Dakar V]

I think worried is a strong word.

[besson3c]

I should add that any worry that is warranted for Chrome OS by its competitors is probably being felt by Microsoft far more than Apple.

[besson3c]

Why not worried? Google knows how to develop a good interface, and they have plenty of highly prolific and talented developers with ample resources. It's vaporware right now, but the potential is there.

[Railroader]

Knowing Google, it'll probably be beta for ten years.

[Dakar V]

Because there's nothing there yet.

[Spheric Harlot]

Actually, the main thing OS X has going over Linux is that it invariably comes in pretty boxes you can plug in, be on the Internet in under ten minutes as a complete layman, and buy Microsoft Word for.

Getting the whole thing set up with email and bookmarks and address book in under five minutes is one of the biggest things th iPhone has going for it, and one reason why the fragmented Android market currently poses no threat to it.

I think Apple is watching very closely, but I don't think they have any eason to be worried -yet.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

Because there's nothing there yet.

Alpha?

[besson3c]

Spheric: it is obviously yet to be seen how user friendly it will be, but it's not like installing Linux and getting on the internet as it stands today is difficult today - or, at least, I wouldn't rank these specific things as being high on the list of problems. Getting a DHCP lease is just not all that hard.

I actually think that the days of MS Word are numbered, there was actually a Slashdot post about that today or yesterday. People don't write up fancy essays designed for the printed page as much as they did in the past. The internet is where it's at for collaboration, and in many cases Word serves as basically a text file exchange format. I think it may eventually dawn upon people that they don't need Word to do this once enough old habits die. It's really hard seeing Word being what it is today several years down the road.

I think that Google Chrome OS is part of Google's long term plans to get everybody using their web based apps. If Google is to be the next dominant software overlord to the world this will take many years to play out. Word may not be terribly relevant or as relevant by this time.

[Spheric Harlot]

I knew exactly what you would write.

Which is why I entirely preempted it with the single word "invariably".

Buy a Mac, know what you're getting. Buy an iPhone, know what you're getting.

Buy a Linux computer, kno...ot so much. Which distro? (distro?) Which mainboard? I have to install this?


As usual, your reply focussed on the least important aspect of my point.

[besson3c]

Yeah, but that's not a terribly difficult problem to solve. If Chrome catches on in a big way (big if), surely the major computer vendors will provide this OS as an option to ship preloaded with.

Also, there is no need to be snarky. I'm just trying to have a discussion, not butt heads with you or anybody else.

[Chuckit]

I'm sure Apple is terrified of this OS that is completely specialized for a market Apple doesn't even currently compete in (netbooks). They're probably worried about microwave ovens putting them out of business too, because those can make popcorn!

[besson3c]

Chuckit: Google has stated that it will *start* as a Netbook OS, but it will eventually spread to the general x86 and ARM platform.

[Chuckit]

According to besson3c?

By its very nature, it doesn't sound like this OS is meant to do much beyond netbook functionality.

[turtle777]

To be honest, Apple should be more worried about Android than Chrome.

Android is the more tangible competitor.

-t

[slugslugslug]

Chuckit, I think when Google announced Chrome OS, some official mouthpiece said that it would eventually be for more than netbooks.

Anyway, I'm sure Apple is keeping their ear to the ground. But since almost no details have been revealed, it's a bit premature to worry.

I have no interest in Chrome OS devices, or Mike Arrington's CrunchPad (which, if I understand correctly, is very similar in concept). I don't want to use apps that were built to run inside a browser, because they don't have any consistent UI guidelines to conform to. If Chrome OS really does wind up with a windowing layer and a way to run native apps with a consistent UI, I might become interested. But if it's just a way to run web apps (with or without additional low-level hardware access), I'll pass.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by slugslugslug 

Chuckit, I think when Google announced Chrome OS, some official mouthpiece said that it would eventually be for more than netbooks.

They said it would be able to run more than netbooks, not that its functionality would be useful for much beyond netbooks. Like, it you want to turn your iMac into a very bulky netbook, Chrome could probably help with that.

[starman]

If their OS is anything like their web sites, it'll be a functional eyesore.

[The Godfather]

Ubuntu is more of a threat to MS and Apple, than Chrome is.

Android has the potential to surpass the iPhone, if Android remains free, and Apple plays by the book of Verizon.

BTW. Can anyone post screenshots of Chrome OS?

[Chuckit]

I don't think Android has the potential to surpass the iPhone unless it stops sucking a lot more than the iPhone.

I also don't see how Ubuntu is a threat — or even noteworthy — to anybody in the consumer space.

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Actually, the main thing OS X has going over Linux is that it invariably comes in pretty boxes you can plug in, be on the Internet in under ten minutes as a complete layman, and buy Microsoft Word for.

Unfortunately, this is a big reason why a lot of people buy Macs in the first place - they're trendy and sexy. I have a feeling that less people would be inclined to switch to OS X if it didn't come packaged in such eye-appealing hardware.

Originally Posted by The Godfather 

Ubuntu is more of a threat to MS and Apple, than Chrome is.

Really? Why do you think that? Ubuntu's a pretty decent Linux distro for people just getting into using Linux, but I know several people who tried using it and discovered that stuff didn't work on it - like MS Office, Photoshop, etc. I don't think Microsoft or Apple are particularly concerned with Ubuntu - it's a very niche product.

Android has the potential to surpass the iPhone, if Android remains free, and Apple plays by the book of Verizon.

You mean AT&T?

I haven't seen Android in action IRL, so I can't make any judgment call on it - but considering that in the US, it's only currently available on phones from T-Mobile (unless that's changed recently), I don't think Apple's shaking in its boots over any supposed threat to the iPhone.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Unfortunately, this is a big reason why a lot of people buy Macs in the first place - they're trendy and sexy. I have a feeling that less people would be inclined to switch to OS X if it didn't come packaged in such eye-appealing hardware.

What is unfortunate about that?

[lpkmckenna]

Netbooks with Linux are returned to the store at a much higher rate than netbooks with WinXP. Google Chrome OS has an uphill battle ahead of it.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

What is unfortunate about that?

It's not terribly pragmatic, and people that make poor purchase choices are annoying. There are numerous reasons to get a Mac, but just getting one only because you like how they look is sort of like those people that buy cars solely based on aesthetics.

[TETENAL]

Of course it's "pragamatic" to buy something that looks good, when you have to look at it every day.

[kylef]

Chrome OS is more of a Windows killer than an OSX one. OSX is currently, and at least for the immediate future will be, in a different league to other OSs. That league is not necessarily a better one, but different nonetheless.

Where XP etc falls into Category A and OSX in Cat. B, Chrome goes into the former.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

It's not terribly pragmatic, and people that make poor purchase choices are annoying. There are numerous reasons to get a Mac, but just getting one only because you like how they look is sort of like those people that buy cars solely based on aesthetics.

You act as if this were in any way a problem. It isn't, especially since, as I mentioned, it doesn't matter at all with OS X:

It is completely irrelevant which model you choose; you pretty much know what you're getting.

That's exactly my point.

[Phileas]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

It is completely irrelevant which model you choose; you pretty much know what you're getting.

That's exactly my point.

Besson is completely misunderstanding how Apple's business model works. Everything is connected and one of the Apple mantras goes like this:

A present, within a present, within a present.

This is one of the many internal compasses Apple uses. The first present is the packaging. Does it make you feel good, excited? Does it look and feel beautiful? Do you want to open it? I think there is no discussing the quality of Apple's packaging, just look for un-boxing videos on youtube.com.

The second present is the hardware. Again, does it look beautiful? Does it feel good? Does it work well? Is it as functional and beautiful as possible? Does it make you want to use it?

The third present is the software. Again, everything that applies to the first two points applies here too.

Anything that fails the "is this is a present" test, is removed, changed, re-engineered and generally marked for change. And that's one of the many ways Apple ensures that buying a Mac is a total experience.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

It's not terribly pragmatic, and people that make poor purchase choices are annoying. There are numerous reasons to get a Mac, but just getting one only because you like how they look is sort of like those people that buy cars solely based on aesthetics.

But consider the alternative: people buying something that looks good, but it doesn't even work.

At least, with Apple, the looks match the functionality.

-t

[Salty]

I think Microsoft is much more worried about Chrome. Most people don't use their Macs as dumb terminals. Not to mention with mobile me Apple is continuing to attempt to be the premium cloud computing service (failing fantastically right now but that's neither here nor there.) as people move toward using more and more web apps I think Apple really plans on trying to keep pace with that. The fact is using a Chrome OS app is going to be JUST as easy on a Mac as it is on Chrome but Apple's still going to have the premium software experience like iTunes, iPhoto, Garageband, Pages, Keynote, etc.

Hopefully these web apps make extensive use of Google Gears so that they're essentially using powerful back ends and simply using HTML/Javascript as a front end. But as has been stated already this is going to require users to learn new interfaces per app. Not to mention a lot of sites are bad at remembering to do solid internal navigation, I can only imagine how that's gonna work when you're using apps made by these people.

As for MS word, I really think Word's useful days are numbered, as more people start using google docs and other alternatives the days of paying nearly a hundred dollars for a word processor are numbered. Really if Google wants to hurt Microsoft they should release a Google Docs app for windows that ties into the online service and provides the same interface. I think that would convert a lot of college kids and home makers, have it all save in ODF or something like that and you're good to go.

[shifuimam]

You can't really deny that there are people out there who have been using Windows their entire lives and buy a Mac because it's trendy...then realize they have no time or inclination to learn how to use OS X. I know that this isn't everyone, and I do realize that plenty of switchers have done so successfully. However, buying a computer just because "it's pretty" is lame - just like buying anything else because "it's pretty" is a poor way to use your money. Does the computer provide the features you want? Do you like OS X? Do you want to buy a retail Windows license and use Boot Camp if you end up not liking OS X? Is the added price premium because it's a Mac really worth it? Hell, can you even afford it?

WRT Salty's comment about MS Word: I don't think its days are limited at all. As individual end users, it's easy for us to look at the technology world from the eyes of a home consumer. Business are where the real money is when it comes to hardware and software, and 90% of the business world still uses Microsoft Office. A business is going to have zero interest in their confidential documents being hosted in a cloud computing environment like Google Docs. Additionally, your employees are going know and be familiar with Office products. Employees don't like change, especially when it means learning new software (and Google Docs and other online word processors do not offer the same advanced features found in Word, particularly those used by businesses, like mail merges, revision tracking, integration with other Office products, etc.).