Chrome OS is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Debian that uses a lot of open-source software: Host AP Linux drivers, PAM (an authentication mechanism), Syslinux (a lightweight bootloader), IBus (Intelligent Input Bus for Linux / Unix OS), ConnMan(Internet connection manager), XScreenSaver and other software. More on this later.
The source code for Chrome OS is already available.
Chrome, the foundation of Chrome OS
– Chrome has 40 million users
– Chrome focuses on: speed, security, simplicity
– new stuff: Chrome for Mac/Linux and extensions
HTML5: making the web more powerful
– powerful web apps
– web apps should use threads
– offline web apps
Converging trends
– netbooks have an explosive growth
– millions of users are living in the cloud
Chrome OS:
– instant boot
– Chrome on Chrome OS is faster
– every app is a web app
– all data is in the cloud
– browser security model
Demo:
– 7 seconds boot time
– the UI is a work in progress
– easy to access favorite apps
– app menu
– panels: persistent lightweight windows (example: Google Talk)
– file browser
– local files open in web apps (including Microsoft Office online apps)
– native video player