Browsing with gOS

Recently, I downloaded the VMware viewer and the gOS virtual app. Visually, it borrows quite a bit from the layout and design of OSX, including expanding icons as the mouse rolls across the bottom bar.

In all due honesty, it's a bit bare bones, and it is somewhat lackluster due to the fact that the only appliances happen to be Google, which I would be fine with, if they were not all in Firefox.

If the developers of gOS can leverage some of the new ways that software is adapting (Adobe AIR comes to mind), the gOS might start to feel like an actual OS rather than a web browser.

This is actually one of my beefs with things like Meebo as well (Which is included in gOS, I notice). They're both very good at what they do, but one can't shake the feeling that they are just pretending at being serious, rather than actually investing in a real application.

When it comes to an instant messenger, I harken back to the days of 98 when ICQ had reached it's peak and was on it's way down. ICQ actually invented many of the ideas that have been dredged up by the social web since, they just happened to show up too early to be popular. Does anyone remember ICQ groups? How ICQ Multi User Chat worked?

Thing is, as instant messengers go, I honestly think that people such as trillian have gotten lazy (Honestly, Astra was started YEARS ago now!).

Which is why I think that gOS should definitely consider some of the on/offline application dev tools coming on the market now. In all honesty, it just seems very half baked. Whether it is because I am new to the Linux experience, or perhaps I'm just not the savvy type to find where you are supposed to change mouse-settings in gOS, I couldn't find how to make the mouse move faster.

I think gOS needs some basic functionality, as well as implementing some form of offline services. Like offline google gadgets (Which makes me wonder why google desktop wasn't included in gOS, since it is one of the nicer suites from google. And no Picasa?).


That being said, I like the visual execution. Simplicity in an OS is a must, and here gOS doesn't disappoint... it's straightforward, easy to understand, and even easier to use. It doesn't lag noticeably, and it seems to be far more reliable than my windows experiences have been in the past, though that may merely be the luck of the draw.

If you were going to ask me whether you should try it out... I'd say sure, if you have the time, the space, and the bandwidth to download it then it may be something to at least give a whirl.

Until they make a little more robust of an offering (And possibly include Desktop/Picasa), I'd have to say it isn't going to compete much with windows for most people.