Perhaps we should have expected this, but we were a bit underwhelmed. The current build is extremely slow and one of the key features — the apps panel — is not accessible.  Start up took about 15 seconds to present us with the log in screen at right, though it’s hard to say how accurate our start time was, considering that we were running Chrome as a virtual machine in Sun VirtualBox, which was a window on our Windows 7 ($79.95) workstation.

The login screen here caused us a bit of a hassle as it requires you to enter a valid Google account username and password and apparently it can be a bit finicky about the definition of a Google account. For example, we have an e-mail address and password that we use to access Google Analytics every day, but Chrome would not accept it as valid. However, another Google account worked.

After typing in the username and password, we were presented with a full screen version of the Chrome browser. Initially it had tabs open for Google Calendar and Gmail, though we closed these and moved on to browsing the Web. As you might expect, the browser in Chrome OS behaves identically to Google Chrome for Windows. We were able to visit various sites and flash was supported. Either because of a lack of video drivers or because of some issues with VirtualBox, we were only able to get a resolution of 800×600, which meant we had to scroll horizontally on most Web pages.

However, everything moved in slow motion. Web pages loaded and rendered slowly, videos on YouTube were so pokey that they looked like slideshows, and attempting to play a video in Hulu actually caused the system to choke so badly we had to force it to reboot. Even doing something as simple as typing a new URL into the browser’s address bar was painfully slow as letters appeared on screen a couple of seconds after we typed them.

We know from watching Google’s demo videos that the tiny Google Chrome icon in the upper left corner of the screen is supposed to give you a menu of Web apps you can load. However, on the build we tried out, clicking the Google icon brings up a username and password prompt that requires a google.com e-mail address as the username. As google.com e-mail addresses are used for the company’s employees, we must assume that only they can use this feature right now.

The upper right hand corner of the screen has icons for battery status, Wi-Fi / Ethernet status, and for an options menu that offers some very basic browser configuration choices like what SSL certificates to accept or whether or not to store passwords. The only really interesting thing we were able to do was change the Chrome theme so the color of the menu bar and the shape of the menu icons were different.

Just to shake things up,we selected a colorful theme by designer Mark Ecko. As these themes also work on Google Chrome for Windows, there are already hundreds of them.

The only other major thing we noticed about Google Chrome OS is that there doesn’t appear to be a shutdown or restart button. If there is, we couldn’t find it. We shut down by using the “power off the machine” option in VirtualBox.Unlike other OSes that often give you all kinds of nasty error messages after being powered off, Chrome seems no worse for wear after it is forcefully restarted.

How to Try Chrome OS

That’s really all there is to see now in Chrome OS and it isn’t much. However, if you’d like to take it for a spin yourself, here’s how:

1. Download and install Sun VirtualBox. You can also use VMware Player, but VMware requires a complicated registration and takes a while to download so we recommend VirtualBox instead.

2. Download the VMware disk image from gdgt (registration required). There’s a VirtualBox image file too, but gdgt users have reported problems with the VirtualBox image and VirtualBox is capable of using the VMWare image file.

3. Create a new virtual machine in VirtualBox. Give it at least 1GB of RAM and add the Chrome disk image you downloaded as your The storage device that holds your OS, programs, and data.
Learn Morehard drive.

Check out our list of the top iPhone games worth paying for. The list includes puzzle games, retro games, games where you shoot zombies, sports games and more. I’m partial to Arrr! Pirates vs. Aliens because I love both pirates and aliens, but there’s nothing more satisfying at the end of a long day than punching a virtual boxer over and over during a long commute.

1. It’s speedy. The focus of Chrome OS is speed and simplicity. Users should expect everything from booting to loading Web pages to be much snappier than today’s PCs. The system you’ll see at the end of this video boots in about 7 seconds, and when it does it puts users right into the browser. Google also claims that sleeping netbooks will wake up in under a second.
2. All applications will be Web-based. Chrome OS is essentially a browser users will have to rely on Web apps for everything they do with their netbooks. However, since there are still times when people need to use their machines when not connected, the operating system will cache data and apps to the local drive when needed, similar to the way Google Gears works. This is possible because of the HTML 5 standard.
3. Not only are your apps synced and stored in the cloud, so is all of your data. Every document, IM/chat, picture, song, or any other piece of information or media you create, access, or download will become part of the cloud of data that makes up your Chrome OS environment. The netbooks will have local storage, but it will act as a cache rather than a traditional local drive. Everything will sync with the cloud, including personalization and settings such as stored Wi-Fi networks, and will be encrypted.

4. The OS is the browser and the browser is the OS.

   
   The tabs we’re used to seeing at the top of the browser serve dual functions now. You get separate tabs for web pages (in the browser) and for Web apps (above the browser). And, like a taskbar, you can pin apps to the tab bar. An applications window lists a user’s apps and will, at some point, help people find new apps. This particular style of app presentation reminds us of Android and the iPhone OS. It’s also reminiscent of netbook-specific Linux distros like Jolicloud, Moblin and Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Discrete elements such as music players and notepads can open up in panels, which are separate and persistent windows that can stay on top of the default browser environment.

5. Chrome will keep itself up to date and secure automatically. Every time you turn on your netbook Chrome will make sure that the latest version of the operating system is installed and, if not, will automatically download updates. Along with speed and simplicity, Google’s focus is on security. If malware, viruses or other undesirable elements happen to creep in, Chrome will identify and hopefully destroy them without the user having to do much except reboot. Like the Chrome browser, each tab — be it a web site or a web app — is locked down and separated from other tabs. If something goes wrong in one, theoretically it won’t affect any of the others.
6. Chrome OS features will also show up in Chrome browser. Again, the OS is a browser, so the same developments Google is working on for the operating system can also be rolled out in the Chrome browser. This also allows for Chrome users to test and experience features that will make up much of the Chrome OS experience later.
7. Chrome OS will work only on specific hardware configurations. Google is going for an Apple-like level of control over what machines Chrome will work on, making it less like traditional Linux distros and more like OS X. This is because Google wants the operating system to work at maximum efficiency and exactly the way the developers envision it. Solid state hard drives are mandatory, for one thing, so the machines can achieve the speed Google is looking for. This will put a damper on most netbook modding enthusiasts as they may not be able to test Chrome OS without some complex hardware mods.
8. No Windows killer . . . yet. Right now, Google is exclusively targeting Chrome OS towards secondaryPCs like netbooks. It’s not trying to replace Windows or Mac OS on your high-powered laptop or desktop.
9. No beta yet. Developers can download the source code, but there’s no installation disk or files yet.
10. It will be a year before we see the final product. Today Google opened up the project to open source developers and showed off some of the operating systems features, but there’s still a long way to go before consumers will see Chrome OS machines on the market. Hardware specifications are expected to be out by the middle of 2010.

We look forward to learning more about Chrome OS in the months ahead. Does Chrome OS make you excited or make you yawn? Which features intrigue you most?

]]> http://blog.laptopmag.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-chrome-os/feed http://blog.laptopmag.com/what-do-you-want-to-see-out-of-googles-chrome-os http://blog.laptopmag.com/what-do-you-want-to-see-out-of-googles-chrome-os#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:00:26 +0000 K. T. Bradford http://blog.laptopmag.com/?p=23543 Later today Google is holding a big Chrome OS event at their headquarters in Mountain View to announce more details about their new Linux-based operating system. We’ll probably see a comprehensive demo and a little something to get everyone excited about what it’s capable of. Check our blog for coverage.

Google’s new OS is being developed specifically for netbooks and as Google has the Midas touch these days with Android popping up everywhere it’s easy to get excited about shades and shadows — but what about specifics?

Linux distros haven’t traditionally done well on netbooks. High return rates plus the lure of an operating system most people are already familiar with led the way for manufacturers to drop Linux in favor of Windows XP altogether early in the life of the category. Many people say Chrome OS could change all that, but I wonder what features it would have to include to make that happen.

Forget what Google may or may not reveal later today, what do you think Chrome OS will be like? And, more importantly, what should it be and do in order to pull Windows (or even Mac OS) users into the fold? Should the GUI attempt to emulate Windows or go for something closer to Android? The promises of a simple, web-based OS are great, but what would you like a Chrome OS netbook to be able to do when it’s not connected?

After reviewing the preview version and spending some quality time with the beta of Office 2010, we’ve come up with the list of 10 things to keep in mind as you research and test the software for yourself.

1. Backstage view is the new name for File and Print menu. Where in Office 2003 and before you had the File menu and in Office 2007 you had the magic Office orb in the upper left hand corner of the screen, you now need to click on the File tab and go to a whole separate screen called Backstage view to see your file, print, and settings options. Microsoft touts Backstage as giving users “easy, organized access to tolls that were previously spread across several locations.” We see it as a bit cumbersome, because it makes covers over your work while you’re just trying to do a simple task like save or print, something that previously was accomplished with small dialogue boxes that floated above your documents.

   However, in Backstage, you do get a nice preview thumbnail of the document that is being obstruced and some interesting specs such as the file size, total editing time, and number of Words in a Word document.

   

2. Office 2010 can coexist with earlier versions of Offices, but not Outlook. Many Microsoft programs wipe away their prior versions on install, giving you no way to compare them with their predecessors. For example, you simply cannot have multiple versions of IE on the same computer, but the good news is that you can keep Office 2007 while you play with Office 2010. Just make sure to select Customize when you install the Office 2010 beta and then choose Keep Previous Versions from the Upgrade tab. One possible exception: we were unable to keep using Outlook 2007 after installing Office 2010.

   

3. Outlook now has threaded conversation views, but you can disable them. One of the most polarizing features of Gmail is the way it shows e-mail conversations in a threaded view that forces you to scroll past earlier e-mails in order to see the latest message in a conversation. Outlook’s inbox handles this much better by giving you the ability to open each conversation as an indented list.

   Even better you can choose to ignore a conversation by right clicking on it and selecting Ignore. All future messages in that thread will then disappear.Still,some will find it annoying to have to open up each conversation, just to get to individual e-mails. Fortunately, unlike Gmail, Outlook makes its easy to disable or customize the conversation view by going to the View tab and selecting from the Conversations pulldown menu.

   

4. You can preview before you paste, but it’s not always helpful. One of the cool new features of Office 2010 is that you can now get a real-time preview of what content would look like in your document before you paste it in from the clipboard. You can do this by right clicking in your document and hovering over 3 different paste options: Keep Source Formatting (use fonts and styles from what you are pasting), Merge Formatting (combine fonts and styles from the original with those in the current doc), and Keep Text Only (paste as text).

   While this works quite well, we noticed one instance where hitting Ctrl+V to paste gave us a different look than using any of these three options. In that case, we were copying and pasting images and text from a Web site and hitting Ctrl+V preserved the image, but using Keep Source Formatting or Merge Formatting gave us a tiny thumbnail of the paste image instead.

5. Office 2010 apps open faster. We’re in the middle of developing test macros to measure this improvement, but throughout our testing we noticed that Office 2010 applications such as Word and Excel opened much faster than their Office 2007 counterparts.

   Next Page: Online Collaboration and Ribbon Customization >>
   

   ]]> http://blog.laptopmag.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-office-2010/feed http://blog.laptopmag.com/adobe-flash-10-1-tested-on-mini-311-acer-1810t-hulu-and-youtube-in-hyperdrive http://blog.laptopmag.com/adobe-flash-10-1-tested-on-mini-311-acer-1810t-hulu-and-youtube-in-hyperdrive#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:30:04 +0000 Mike Prospero http://blog.laptopmag.com/?p=23287

   Today, Adobe released the beta version of Flash Player 10.1, and it provides a huge boost in video quality and frame rates for notebooks and netbooks that offer hardware video decoding. For example, on low-power Atom netbooks equipped with Nvidia’s Ion graphics, Flash Player 10.1 takes some of the work the CPU was doing and offloads it to the GPU. This makes it possible for machines like the HP Mini 311 ($399.99) to stream HD content from Hulu, YouTube, and other sources without choking. You’ll also see better frame rates on standard-def videos, especially when played at full screen.

   We first compared Flash Player 10.1 vs. Flash 10 using two HP Mini 311s equipped with Nvidia Ion graphics, one running XP, and the other Windows 7 Premium ($79.95). And we measured the frame rates of video playback on Hulu and YouTube with the netbooks outputting their video signal to a 32-inch Samsung HDTV. Because Intel’s 4 Series chipsets also supports hardware video decoding, we ran the same tests on an Acer Aspire 1810t, which has GMA4500MHD graphics. To see if your notebook or netbook supports video hardware acceleration in Flash 10.1, click here.

   Up until now, streaming Flash video off of sites such as Hulu.com was an iffy proposition on Ion netbooks, as the app used the CPU to do most of the work. But with Flash Player 10.1, that’s no longer an issue. As you’ll see in the video and chart below, what was a slideshow now becomes watchable. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s a heck of a lot better. Our ULV ultraportable also showed improvment in most tests.

   Frame Rates Compared: Flash 10.1 vs. Flash 10 on HP Mini 311

   

   Sadly, there’s not a lot of HD Flash content on Hulu these days. Unless you like watching “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along” and the  “Psych” Christmas episode over and over, you’re going to be fairly unsatisfied. Which is why we were pleased to see that, not surprisingly, 480p video streamed just as well. An episode of “Heroes”  (”Once Upon a Time in Texas”) streamed with an average framerate of 23 fps. When we played the same clip on a Mini 311 with the older Flash player, we saw just 12 fps.

   We also saw marked improvement when we tried Flash 10.1 on the Acer Aspire 1810T, a CULV system with Graphics chips are responsible for processing all images sent to your computer?s display.
   Learn Moreintegrated graphics. This 11.6-inch notebook features a 1.3-GHz Intel Pentium SU7300 CPU, and Intel GMA4500MHD graphics, so while it started out at a higher spot than the Mini 311, the two ended up with roughly the same frame rates. Below is a chart showing the 1810T’s framerates before and after installing Flash 10.1.

   Frame Rates Compared: Flash 10.1 vs. Flash 10 on Acer 1810t

   

   What remains to be seen is if there will be a proliferation of HD Flash content, now that more people will be able to enjoy it on netbooks and notebooks. We also wonder whether Hulu’s HD selection remains skimpy because the company is trying to figure out how to charge for this content. One thing is for sure: If you’re in the market for a netbook or ultraportable and care about the quality of online video playback, both Ion and CULV systems are a good bet.

   
   

   
   
   
   

   http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptop/hp-mini-311.aspx
   ]]> http://blog.laptopmag.com/adobe-flash-10-1-tested-on-mini-311-acer-1810t-hulu-and-youtube-in-hyperdrive/feed http://blog.laptopmag.com/microsoft-launches-bing-video-but-do-we-need-yet-another-streaming-video-service http://blog.laptopmag.com/microsoft-launches-bing-video-but-do-we-need-yet-another-streaming-video-service#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:51:02 +0000 Jeffrey L. Wilson http://blog.laptopmag.com/?p=23101 Hulu may be the current face of the TV-on-the-Web movement, but it’s not the only player in the game. YouTube, for example,  stepped up with its Shows and Movies sections, and now Microsoft is following suit with the new Bing Video.

   Microsoft has begun rolling out the new Bing Video (replacing MSN Video), which will aggregate Hollywood content from a variety of sources including ABC, Hulu, and YouTube.  Bing Video features over 900 television shows including Flash Forward, The Jay Leno Show, and The Office.  In some brief time with the service, we liked that we could browse content based on channel (such as Bravo, National Geographic), but there seemed to be an unusually high number of clips in relation to full length shows. The movie section is even worse–we couldn’t find one full-length flick amongst the trailers, interviews, and clips.

   Certainly, Bing Video is still in the early phases, and we expect more compelling content to be added over time. Do you think, however, that there’s a need for yet another ideo source? Sound off in the comments below.

   ]]> http://blog.laptopmag.com/microsoft-launches-bing-video-but-do-we-need-yet-another-streaming-video-service/feed http://blog.laptopmag.com/free-public-wi-fi-for-the-holidays http://blog.laptopmag.com/free-public-wi-fi-for-the-holidays#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:28:14 +0000 K. T. Bradford http://blog.laptopmag.com/?p=23075 Checking out this list of free holiday Wi-Fi offerings from various sponsors, I’m happy to see that there will be more places I can access the Internet without exhorbitant fees. Yes, I’ll have to sit through an ad or be forced to use a specific search engine, but if it’s between that and $13/hour, I’ll take having to use Bing for a little while instead of my default.

   If this marketing strategy works out, could this be the shape of free public Wi-Fi in the future? When major players decide to allow free access, there’s usually a reason… or a catch. Barnes & Noble now offers free wireless in its stores as a way to tempt customers to buy eBooks. Starbucks allows 2 hours of free wireless per day, but to access it you need a Starbucks card with a regularly updated balance.

   Is this kind of marketing a good balance between what the user needs and what companies need as GigaOM purports? I love free Wi-Fi but I also can’t help but wonder if we’re headed toward a slippery slope. What wonders or horrors will await us at the bottom?

   ]]> http://blog.laptopmag.com/free-public-wi-fi-for-the-holidays/feed http://blog.laptopmag.com/happy-5th-birthday-firefox http://blog.laptopmag.com/happy-5th-birthday-firefox#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:09:42 +0000 K. T. Bradford http://blog.laptopmag.com/?p=23020 The Mozilla Blog reminded us today that it’s been five years since Firefox 1.0 first entered the world. Hard to believe that the upstart browser is so old, yet it also feels like Firefox is such an indispensable tool for the Web that I hardly know how I got along without it.

   I remember the days when Netscape ruled and only people who barely knew how to operate their computers used Internet Explorer. But just like in that seminal memoir The Other Guy Blinked: How Pepsi Won the Cola Wars, Netscape lost its footing with some disastrous decisions in the late 90s which ultimately led to an inferior product. Microsoft and IE took over PCs and budding web designers (like myself) all cried silent tears.

   But out of the ashes of Netscape’s demise came Mozilla, and from Mozilla came Firefox, and five years later we’re still enjoying the benefits of a free, open source browser that complies with Web standards and makes browsing a bit safer.

   
   

   These days Firefox has more competition than it used to (hey there, Chrome, have a seat by Safari and Opera at the table) and, because Firefox is open source, it is often the basis for niche browsers that come and go. Still, it has a special place in my heart, as I’m sure it does in yours.

   Here’s to another 5 years, Firefox. And, if you can manage it, do you think by then you’ll have fixed that thing where you hog all my system’s memory? I’d appreciate it.

   ]]> http://blog.laptopmag.com/happy-5th-birthday-firefox/feed http://blog.laptopmag.com/epix-launches-new-premium-movie-channel-for-tv-web http://blog.laptopmag.com/epix-launches-new-premium-movie-channel-for-tv-web#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:20:57 +0000 Jeffrey L. Wilson http://blog.laptopmag.com/?p=22701

   Hulu may be the face of the TV-on-the-Web movement, but the one aspect of  service that’s severely lacking is the movie selection. Sure, you can watch cult classics like the unintentionally hilarious Troll 2, but if you’re looking for Hollywood’s finest selections, Hulu’s a wasteland.

   Enter Epix, a new premium cable TV movie channel (available to FIOS customers)  that’s a joint venture between Lionsgate, MGM Studios, and Viacom. The channel will also be accompanied by a web portal that will allow those subscribers to view content online. Epix will offer over 300 movies when it launches this weekend (including recent hits like Iron Man and Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull), which will scale up to 720p resolution depending on a subscriber’s connection speed.

   Having such close Hollywood ties means Epix will receive content faster than rival channels; you can expect movies to show up 9 months after their theatrical runs, as opposed to a year with HBO. Epix will also include behind the scenes interviews and features, as well as original content.

   One of Epix’ coolest features is the  ability for a FIOS subscriber to watch a movie with up to five other friends, even if they aren’t FIOS customers. The host has the ability to control the video playback.

   Intrigued? You can sample Epix by requesting a three-day pass here. It’s not quite cutting the cable cord, but service does present more options that traditional movie channels.

   [Hat Tip: Read Write Web]

   ]]> http://blog.laptopmag.com/epix-launches-new-premium-movie-channel-for-tv-web/feed