"Meet the new ThinkPad X131e Chromebook: A fast booting, highly customizable laptop PC built with rugged features for the daily rigors of K-12 education. The ThinkPad X131e Chromebook simplifies software and security management for school administrators and provides students and teachers with quick access to thousands of apps, education resources and storage." Lenovo is the third OEM to jump into ChromeOS. Chromebooks have been doing well on Amazon, apparently, too. Android tablets, iPads, the Mac, and now Chromebooks - it must be rainy in Redmond.
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Member since:2007-05-05
Member since:2009-03-17
No the PC is not dying, that is a strawman. What it is undeniable is that the areas of growth are now elsewhere.
The computing field's growth has always been on the smaller/faster/cheaper category. Up to recently, the PC was the forefront of that category, now it is no longer the case. Smaller/cheaper mobile devices are where the momentum has shifted, once they are smaller/cheaper/and as fast as the PC, then PCs will start to go the way of the workstation, the minicomputer, and the mainframe that went before them.
Some people get too caught out in the specifics of the tool, to the point they miss its essence.
Member since:2005-09-30
Member since:2005-07-08
Member since:2007-11-11
I'm sorry but you are wrong and here is why: Bandwidth caps. Corps are adding nastier and nastier caps here in the states rather than use their profits to buy new lines and the simple fact is that to pack as many features as a fat client program would equal major bandwidth suckage.
This is why I've said all those "We'll stream the games to the user" companies are doomed, they just won't be able to get enough bandwidth to the end user to make the services work. First time the user gets a $200+ bill for playing $50 worth of games that will be the end of that, we'll be seeing the same thing happened to the "cloud" fad in the next few years. BTW we have already gone through one cloud fad in the late 90s, then as now it was bandwidth that killed the idea.
For what you say to become true you would need a MINIMUM of 100Mbps FTTH, 1Gbps would be better if you want it to feel no different than using a traditional fat client program but most of the planet are seeing nowhere near those speeds. Look up the speeds of the major cities in the USA (where a good chunk of the software industry is based) and you'll see speeds around 20Mbps, even in the large metro areas like LA, Miami, Dallas, the lines just haven't kept up with the times and even Netflix is having to pay for caches closer to the users so they don't lose customers to caps.
So I'm sorry friend but until the world is draped in fiber, which at current roll out speed will probably take another 30+ years, its just not gonna happen. The schools that buy this are gonna find out real quick when they get hit for the bill for having to have their own backbone link to feed all these internet only ChromeBooks and that will be the end of that. If Google would combine Chrome with Android like they said they would, give users a true offline mode? it could be a big hit, but until then I'm sorry but most will find it all but worthless without a 24/7/365 roaming connection which at least in the USA would require a WISP or Cellular, both of which are VERY expensive.
Member since:2012-09-21
I agree the OS is irrelevant. The applications are what is important and right now ChromeOS is severely lacking.
Why would anyone buy a Chromebook when for just a little more you can get a fully functional laptop that can run Chrome apps as well as millions of other native apps? I just don't get it.
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Member since:
2006-03-20
The operating system will become irrelevant.
Its job will be to provide a browser.