Is it just a rumor?
Is it for real?
Will Google launch an OS to compete Windows, Mac OsX and various Linux distos?
EDIT: It’s a FAKE! The website on which it was posted first was specializing on speculating.
Screenshots have begin to appear on the internet of “GoogleOS – Build 1381″. It is unconfirmed, it looks like a toy but it would be a nice thing to have. Microsoft would most certainly dread such a thing.
This is the comments posted along with the screenshots.
It is based on GNU/Linux with a HURD/Googled kernel and it is supposed to come in three releases: Embedded, Portable and Corporate. This OS basically relies on the idea of a Remote-OS: the kernel and the boot components are loaded in a chip or in a proper 2GB usb key, while all the remaining apps will be downloaded from a secure Google server. The LSI chip has been made for an easy integration in some next-gen motherboards, making possible the creation of Google-based machines which will be able to act as a cluster node and share the load of work. The USB device, instead, will let users boot their favourite system directly from the key (and that’s quite obvious). The data will be encrypted with a public GPGP key and made safe from possible abuses. Rumours tell that the system will be able to seek for local and remote devices and create a dedicated storage area on the user’s HD (as some Live Linux Distro does). The third option, called corporate, will let companies install a local cabinet in order to avoid waste of band. The pre-installed applications are absolutely minimal and will only consist of a File Manager, a spreadsheet, a text editor, a schedule and the Google Suite containing e-mail client, browser and IM. The system was tested with success on a Pentium IV 2.0 Ghz 256 mb RAM: the boot was fast, easy and the most part of the connected devices were automatically detected and installed. The XML- based menus seemed to be pretty familiar and easy-to-use. The tried build was the 1381 (just like the main Win NT4 release!). Result? A bit buggy but extremely close to a proper Release Candidate.
You can find more screenshots here.
September 1st, 2005 | Technology
BS. Google would not likely use something with a GNU licence in such a product, nor would they select a kernel that supports so little hardware. Also, what’s shown in the screenshots fails to demonstrate anything resembling Google’s well-designed user interfaces.
Comment by Zak — September 1, 2005 @ 8:31 pm