12 replies to this topic

[duckfeet]

I've been interested in the idea of the Chrome OS, and figured maybe I'd figure a way to install it on my netbook, just because I like linux and the idea appealed to me, seems the way things are going...But anyway, I stumbled on the Pilot Program that Google has, and said they were giving away free notebooks with Chrome installed: OS Pilot Program and figured I'd fill out the app, where they ask "why I think I should get one" just for kicks...about a week ago, I think. I thought no more about it, never heard anything, but surprise, I got a brand new Google CR-48 notebook on my doorstep today. It's pretty cool: opens right to browser...there is no 'Desktop'. Very quick...and free

Only downside is for the purpose of this site, I need apps--like GravityGripp's--and I need to download and try out programs we use--started to download MBAM when I laughed at my idiocy...I remembered: No Windows... ...but it's still seems a nice notebook...the give 2 years free 100mb monthly Verizon 3G and some other junk. I know some other notebooks are supposed to be coming out with this OS, mabye Acer, I forget who else...we'll see...I've got a Nexus One too...but that wasn't free...and, like others, I'm no longer as thrilled with Google as I once was...but anyway, if anyone else wants to give a shot at getting a free netbook, here it is...

[cnm]

Thanks, duckfeet. I applied for it.

[duckfeet]

Thanks, duckfeet. I applied for it.

Well, I sure hope you get one, because I'd like to hear somebody else's take: it's well built, and has I gather 2gb of RAM and a 16gb SSD. Real quick, and when you close the lid, it hardly uses any standby time at all, and as soon as you open it, you are in Chrome. The problem is, I can't *mess* with anything...it's made strictly for idiots...I know, I know, RG will say that should be right up my alley ...but it probably is the future. They obviously want to keep people from playing around in it...you can't get to any files or see the System, or at least I haven't figured out how to do it...no bios, and designed so users can't change much...can't use flash drive at this point, can't run apps...

So it's great, in some ways...eventually I'll probably give it to my sister or somebody who likes playing on the net, tho, as I'll probably get bored with it, and I have a little Dell netbook with XP, that I like fine when I'm moving around...

Problem for malware fighting, is I can't use clipmate, tho they do have a 'Clippings' in their apps, like Firefox has, but now I'm all spoiled by Clipmate, so I don't know...can't use gravitygripp's malware extension, tho since it works on regular chrome, I should be able to find a way...and I can't download my BBCEditor...it does have extensions, and of course, they really expect everybody to use Google 'Doc's and when I was in training I did use Google docs, and they had the Web Preview and other things, it was fairly all right for BBCode...but Google Docs now has changed, and you can't use old version, and new version is terrible, IMO...so when I use it, I'm mostly compiling my fixes on here, and checking them in Preview, which I don't really like...make more mistakes I think.

I'm sure all these problems can be gotten around...it's a lot like using linux, but with less acessibility to apps and stuff...no Firefox...it's just one big happy Chrome browser...

Oh well, that's my update...hope you get one...it is cool to get a free notebook, in spite of my whining...

EDIT: I was able to install GravityGripp's malware search...just had to run the app right there, and it installed...so I guess maybe most Chrome stuff works...just no Desktop...which is still weird

Edited by duckfeet, 11 February 2011 - 12:37 AM.

[cnm]

I imagine all those limitations are because the whole thing is mostly on the web server and there is very little in the actual box. Yeah, I'd like them to send me a free notebook but I don't expect this one to act much like a PC.

Why can't you use Clipmate? You mean that mark and Ctrl-C doesn't do anything?

[Budfred]

I looked at the application and got stopped by the agreement that you will use this as your primary computer for the next year... There is NO way that I would agree to something like that since it is much more limited than my desktop and possibly even my netbook... It kind of sounds like an oversized Android phone without the voice capability... I am keeping an eye on some Android tablets and it seems like they would be more useful than this...

[duckfeet]

I imagine all those limitations are because the whole thing is mostly on the web server and there is very little in the actual box. Yeah, I'd like them to send me a free notebook but I don't expect this one to act much like a PC.

Why can't you use Clipmate? You mean that mark and Ctrl-C doesn't do anything?

It won't install apps, not windows apps, anyway, just Chrome apps...and you can't use--at this time--usb flashdrives...so I don't know how I'd be able to run clipmate, but I'm studying it...I've been using this browser for everything except this site, but I'm getting used to it: I'm overcoming most of the obstacles, so far...now I can export clippings, and I'll figure a way with cans...

I looked at the application and got stopped by the agreement that you will use this as your primary computer for the next year... There is NO way that I would agree to something like that since it is much more limited than my desktop and possibly even my netbook... It kind of sounds like an oversized Android phone without the voice capability... I am keeping an eye on some Android tablets and it seems like they would be more useful than this...

Well, the application I filled out, at the end, primary computer, I figured OK--so I took that request more lightly...and most people, including me, expected a cheapo overgrown tablet, when actually it's a very sturdy, tough, notebook sized computer, they put it thru some physical tests...feels solid...plenty of RAM, built in bluetooth, wifi and 3G, SSD, etc...the browser is the OS...I've been following the Chrome OS deal for a while, and do feel that--whether I like it or not--it's the way things seem to be heading...not everybody agrees, but I was hoping to get an Acer or some sort of netbook with chrome OS installed, when I had the bucks so this is easier on the wallet. Much of the problems for me, are similar to those I first faced when I switched to Chrome, and Google Docs, and stuff...I figure the apps will come around, but time will tell. Once I can get used to editing logs in a browser, I guess I'll be alright with the other changes...weird tho...

Edited by duckfeet, 11 February 2011 - 01:53 AM.

[Dragonslore]

If I recall correctly, there is a hidden switch on the bottom of the CR-48 which switches it to programming mode (or what ever you call it)

This allows you to customize the CR-48 by installing some other forum of Linux unless Google has made some changes since the initial discovery of the switch shortly after the first CR-48's were handed out.

[duckfeet]

If I recall correctly, there is a hidden switch on the bottom of the CR-48 which switches it to programming mode (or what ever you call it)

This allows you to customize the CR-48 by installing some other forum of Linux unless Google has made some changes since the initial discovery of the switch shortly after the first CR-48's were handed out.

That wouldn't surprise me. I'm pretty determined to make a go of it with what they gave me: most obstacles were due to my own view of 'what a computer is' rather than anything Google has done. My main questions--since I'm on here so much--is how to use it to fight malware, and how to 'root' it, same as Nexus One users could do, so I can see what's going on in the files. Mostly I wonder if this *is* the future: no more malware fighting, as google will do all that...kind of like the Panda Cloud AV I used for a while, but what do you do once the evil geniuses who write the bad code figure this one out too?

Kind of like people driving cars, most people I figure who are on the web don't much care about all the stuff I find interesting: again: I'm kind of curious why they seem to be picking people to use this who actually like to know how things work...linux users particularly want to tinker and explore...I'm sure I'll do the same...maybe the next ones they send out will be to my mom and sis, who are big on social networking and hate all the stuff I find so fascinating...we'll see...great keyboard finally, and perfect size: bigger than a netbook, and all the stuff seems to work good...no beef with the hardware at all...

[Dragonslore]

Ok, found something you may be able to use.

Located @ InfoWorld.com and contains a YouTube video also

How Ubuntu Linux could help Google's Cr-48 notebook

Didn't bother reading the whole article, but I did watch some of the video. So I wouldn't be surprised if they did remove the switch.
But "IF" I recall correctly, it was supposedly under a label which you had to peel back to access the switch.

[cnm]

It sounds like the 1970's "dumb terminals" that antedated personal workstations - coax terminals for IBM servers, ASCII terminals for everything else - that could only accept keypresses and display what the server sent back. Tablets may well turn out to be the popular compromise between a (less and less) highly controllable PC and a dumb terminal.

Chrome's notebook will presumably have all the vulnerabilities of cloud computing in general.

I agreed to use it as my primary PC since I mostly just browse. But of course I will also have to use my desktop for communicating with our Linux server via PuTTY and so forth. I don't think I am the kind of customer they are designing for, but I'd like to get my hands on one.

Incidentally I am very pleased with my Kindle - which has rudimentary browser capability in addition to being a superb book reading device. No one would want it to be their only browser, though.

[duckfeet]

Ok, found something you may be able to use.

Located @ InfoWorld.com and contains a YouTube video also
.
How Ubuntu Linux could help Google's Cr-48 notebook

Didn't bother reading the whole article, but I did watch some of the video. So I wouldn't be surprised if they did remove the switch.
But "IF" I recall correctly, it was supposedly under a label which you had to peel back to access the switch.

Yep: great article--switch is gone, yer rite--and made me realize just how split I am on this thing: I love the notebook, and want to do my bit, since I got it, to use it regularly, and since I find this whole debate fascinating--Cloud vs Desktop, and MS vs Google vs 'everything else'--and most of the initital irritants, I'm finding my way around o.k. It's just when I first came to SWI, to hopefully learn to be a malware fighter, I switched everything I was using in Ubuntu, over to Windows...and I've been happily either in 64bit Win7, my main pc....or in my Dell Latitude 2100 in XP home, for my other stuff...and using first Firefox, now Chrome....so I was o.k. with that....Windows is where the malware is--generally--so that's my general bent...but since I was still interested in Operating Systems, and google seemed to be the 500 pound gorilla in the room, this was of much interest to me...

I do need to hook up with a forum like I did with Nexus One, where I can iron out my specific questions...right now, it's basicallly: what do I replace BBC editor with? I'm used to doing my pre-posting logs in that...Google Docs would be the obvious choice, but the new version doesn't have a Webpage Preview so I can see how my BBCode will come out....I'll sort it out...right now I'm just doing the work in the 'Test' forum....

Oh well, mostly I just wish you and others had the same toy, so I could see what you do Thanks for your suggestions and comments...

[duckfeet]

It sounds like the 1970's "dumb terminals" that antedated personal workstations - coax terminals for IBM servers, ASCII terminals for everything else - that could only accept keypresses and display what the server sent back. Tablets may well turn out to be the popular compromise between a (less and less) highly controllable PC and a dumb terminal.

Chrome's notebook will presumably have all the vulnerabilities of cloud computing in general.

I agreed to use it as my primary PC since I mostly just browse. But of course I will also have to use my desktop for communicating with our Linux server via PuTTY and so forth. I don't think I am the kind of customer they are designing for, but I'd like to get my hands on one.

Incidentally I am very pleased with my Kindle - which has rudimentary browser capability in addition to being a superb book reading device. No one would want it to be their only browser, though.

Right: and that's what perplexed me about the people who seem to be getting these notebooks: seems a strange sort of demographics...I put that I was a malware fighter, and online a whole lot, and was a bit sassy too, "Don't be evil, Google, you guys got millions, you could cut loose with a Notebook for me" and...who knows? It worked.

But again, I guess for beta purposes we are fine, but mostly, you would think, they would want these to be in the hands of those who *aren't* all that interested in how things work...my mom--for example--just wants to get to Facebook: she loves this thing...Twitter using sis, the same....

I think it's more of a Cloud question, is that the future or not....and will 'most' people be happy with just a web browser? Are we all just doomed to be wireless workstations on some gigantic server somewhere? ...and of course, if that *does* happen, as I'm sure google would like....*then* the malware writers will find a way to get their garbage in here....but that brings up another question: maybe google doesn't *mind* all the bad malware around, since it might force naive users to switch to their 'safe' chrome OS notebooks...

[Budfred]

I suspect they are looking for techies who can put it through its paces in addition to some more casual users who might find a way to break it... They may even want to see how long it will take the techies to get to the root...