Google Chrome OS The Operating System From Google

Search engine giant Google has announced that it will be launching an operating system specially crafted for those who spend most of their time on web. The new OS will be an extension to Chrome web browser. According to the Google Blog, the operating system will be targeted at netbooks initially.

The OS will run on x86 and ARM chips and the company is planning to come up with netbooks by the next year. Chrome OS will take cloud computing to the next level and it is speculated that it will compete with Microsoft's Windows. While this statement may sound too bold, Google may already have on cloud what Microsoft offers on desktop. For instance, GMail for Outlook and Google Docs for Office.

With this Google wants to redesign the OS from the scratch and the logic is that when today's prevailing OSs were being crafted, web was still in its nascent stage. But now that web has become a significant part of people using computers, we need to have a fresh look at operating systems.

Not many details are available about the OS right now. But it is sure that the company is designing Chrome OS keeping in mind speed, simplicity and security as key factors. Moreover, Google will be making the source code open-source. The OS will be almost fully cloud-based and will be free. The existing applications based on standard web technologies will continue to work and further apps can be developed using any web technology. Source : Official Google Blog

VirtualBox 3.0 Takes Virtualization Technology To Next Level

Sun Microsystems just released the latest version of its virtualization software VirtualBox. VirtualBox 3.0 is equipped with loads of features and bug-fixes that take virtualization to next level.

For starters, virtualization is a technology that allows a single computer to act as many. This is done by running multiple OSs inside a main OS that hosts the virtualization software. Thus you can run Linux, Mac, Unix and Solaris side by side on the top of Windows 7! This is quite different with dual-boot as in dual booting, you have to choose an operating system at the time of booting itself and if you want to switch to another OS you have to reboot to boot into that OS.

VirtualBox 3.0 boasts of features like capability to use Direct3D 8/9 for Windows guests and support for OpenGL 2.0 for Windows, Linux and Solaris guests. This means support for rich graphic applications like games. What is more notable about this cross-platform software is the capability of guest operating systems to use 32 virtual CPUs simultaneously. What this means is that VirtualBox is now capable of running not only desktop OS but also it is capable of handling server based OS and applications like database servers that demand high performance and put a lot of stress on system.

VirtualBox is completely free to use for personal use. For enterprise-wide deployments one can purchase a license.