Google Blogoscoped

Forum

Which Apps Do You Think Are Missing On Chrome OS?  (View post)

tom digenti [PersonRank 0]

Sunday, November 22, 2009
14 years ago10,545 views

sketchup

polymath [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

Some apps, like photo processing apps, will need Native Client support. Others might need to use local storage differently (shared between multiple apps – does HTML5 support that?).

But for others, like editing PowerPoint presentations, a webapp couldn't do the job but I don't know of one that works well.

BizAbh [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

BitTorrent Client , IrfanView type advance Photo Viewer ,

BizAbh [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

well Zoho.com has very advance web apps for M$ word, excel, power point editing.

AmirCs [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

An iTune like tool for podcasts and musics and movies

Ashish Narmen [PersonRank 1]

14 years ago #

Does the Chrome OS have support for Voice and Video chat on Google OS using the chrome browser.
Or would we see the message "Voice and video chat is not supported on our own OS" on selecting "Add Voice and Video" under Options in the Chat gadget.

Rohit [PersonRank 1]

14 years ago #

Skype, BitTorrent, video/voice chat, video/music player

Matt [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

3D internet games I guess. I know it's just a netbook, but a lot of people like to play their games on-the-go with their laptops (such as MMORPGS). At the moment, Chrome OS doesn't seem to offer this.

Will [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

I don't think ChromeOS will replace my main studio computer, but I am considering it for my laptop, and I would love some kind of music software just for doodling around with. Some kind of simple tracker or something would suffice fine.

Kelly [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

grooveshark, revision 3, anonymity protecting programs like peerguardian, last.fm, slingplayer, widgets, all-in-one video/audio converter,

Varun Mahajan [PersonRank 1]

14 years ago #

Software Development. Though I think Google must be working on providing a Java/Python/Go IDE online soon

Zacky [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

eMule

Yves Alexandre Simon [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

Skype

Erik [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

Eclipse. Though I'm keeping my eye on Bespin.

David Mulder [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

Tried to create a list of examples that everything here can already be done online:
-Sketchup: With time these kind of things will be available in the cloud, take a look at the 3d building maker by google.
-photo processing apps: Adobe themselves are creating a online photo editing app
-BitTorrent Client: Agree, but that should have been something handled by the browser all along (e.g. in firefox by the firetorrent extension). Might be possible using extensions, though it would be quite hard (I developed already some chrome extensions)
-IrfanView like preview: ... isn't that already provided by the browser... I mean... IrfanView was usefull in the time of windows 95... but I seriously wouldn't know for what specific tasks you would need it nowadays.
-iTunes: There are countless and countless of these kind of websites... http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/22/your-guide-to-music-on-the-web-part-1/
-Skype: Imo and Meebo both feature voice and video chat
-3D internet games: Though often undervalued Runescape is a strong example that it is definitely possible.
-Anonymity protection can be handled by chrome extensions
-Last.fm... that's already a website
-Widgets: Chrome Extensions
-Converter: There are lots of them online
-Software development: What about bespin

Marcin Sochacki (Wanted) [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

Terminal app with telnet/ssh/serial capability.
ssh-agent.
Password manager.
CD/DVD writer.

Those things are not possible over the cloud. BTW the examples they always show in "cloud app" demos are specifically optimised for this particular demo. In real world you just can't simply replace all office apps with their cloudy counterparts.

I'm a bit skeptical about ChromeOS, even though it does look very smooth and fast. It seems that it's going to very hard to actually store your data on the netbook – all the defaults are going to point you to network apps, which raises a question of data security and vendor lock-in.

GuillaumeB [PersonRank 9]

14 years ago #

pixelmator will be missed

James Xuan [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

Agreed on the Pixelmator front. What I would miss most using Chrome OS is the unified look that Mac OS X has

chris [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

even if there is available webapps to do the task. anybody think it will be as fast to edit a image or working on a office documents using real computer power?

my list:

BT, you can say web can handle bt, however, but I download large amount of files, some of them Im not eager to reveal neither, where Im gonna put those files?

Firefox, if chroms os is a big ol browser of google, where is my choice of everything I want to do? same old everything everyday will get old very fast.

MS Office, plain and simple, online office isn't powerful enough, and my work requires standard format of word, excel, powerpoint and access.

my HoMM3 and MM8 games, i know its impossible to play it, which I can do on either windows xp/7, or linux.

zune, I enjoy my zune HD.

local storage, I dont think HTML5 is capable of managing my 5G work data, or 100G+ entertainment data.

wallpapers, I enjoy change my wallpaper every once in a while, just to refresh the life a bit, if I were to face same old UI day in and day out, that would be crazy, even my smartphone (Pre) allow me to change wallpapers.

Totally private computer using without sending any internet data. Obviously there is a lot of times I really just need to make sure Im working locally with no risk to being watched on. Can google operate normally with no internet?

illustrator, photoshop and adobe acrobat, I use them alot.

etc.

chrome os is way too basic, its obvious google think it can meet 80% of people's 80% needs with a computer, however, an OS never can ignore 20% of population, nor 20% needs of 80% people.

it doesn't matter what it can do, there are too many things it can not do, and people always think about that before buying a computer.

after all, why should anybody spend $400 just to surf internet?

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

Each year I find myself using fewer and fewer non-web apps. As JavaScript continues to be made faster, many more apps will move into the browser.

Outside of the browser, I use:

- Gimp, for image editing
- Software development tools (kate, svn)
- Command-line tools (gzip, diff, grep)
- Music and photo management
- Music-making and movie-making applications
- Backup and restore software

Apple has an interesting strategy here. They know that office apps are moving into the cloud. They don't bundle their office apps, and charge extra for them. But media apps such as GarageBand and iMovie won't run in the browser in the near future, so those are the ones bundled with Macs. This gives people a reason to buy their computers, beyond web apps.

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

On a tangent: the big advantage of ChromeOS to us tech-oriented people is that OTHER people can use it. No longer will we need to provide such intensive computer support to our friends and family, just to keep their computer stuff working.

An appliance computer isn't right for everyone, but it's right for 90% of people.

Mike Sullivan [PersonRank 1]

14 years ago #

Printing.

How will a browser-only OS print anything?

People still do need to print stuff from time to time.

Robert Francis [PersonRank 1]

14 years ago #

Google Docs only takes 500 KB at the moment, and writing a book needs more than that. Upping it to 1 MB would be appreciated.

Publishing in e-book format might come into its own very shortly, when a good well priced Google Reader comes out. Set the standard Google!

And publishing e-books directly from Google Docs would be a godsend in the new OS.

I know how fast Linux is in comparison to MS products. That will make cloud computing with Chrome OS no different to working at home ;-)

Robert Francis [PersonRank 1]

14 years ago #

I forgot:

Safari is the best browser at the moment. Could we have that imported to Chrome OS. Thank you Eric.

Addison [PersonRank 1]

14 years ago #

Agreed, Terminal and some ssh. Also synergy would be sweet too. Those are the only apps that i would really miss/need. Maybe some latex from time to time.

And currently I miss sketchup even though povray is a great program.

Mrrix32 [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

People seem to be missing the point of Chrome OS. Google is trying to make it as quick and easy to surf the web as possible. They won't let you install Firefox/Safari/IE/Lynx because they have built the chrome browser together to run smoothly together.

Gazza [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

I agree with Mrrix32. The whole point of Chrome OS is lightweight fast and ease of use. If you want Photoshop, buy a Mac – You can afford it! Why mess around this when you can burn your CDs (which netbooks don't do – no CD drive) with Windows 7?
If you want a netbook that allows you to surf, write your blogs, listen to your music etc, then buy a netbook – if not, go visit your local Apple store :)

Gamer_Z. [PersonRank 1]

14 years ago #

I would say that HTML can not yet create apps that can match most of Adobe's products, like Photoshop, Flash, or Premiere. Also 3D games with high-quality graphics (ex: Crysis) or physics (ex: Portal) cannot yet be done in the browser.

Really it seems like Google is saying that they want to only use HTML, so they will design an OS in which only HTML can be used. And that is just not good enough for a lot of higher-level users.

JWM [PersonRank 1]

14 years ago #

For a chrome os netbook? I think the web has all apps necessary at this point.

For chrome os on some other machine, there is much web application development to be done.

dedee [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

garmin mapsource
mwconn

David Mulder [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

It would take ages to reply to all apps which are already available online, so I will only reply to the interesting ones:
   -Terminal app with telnet/ssh/serial capability: http://www.serfish.com/console/
   – Photoshop/Gimp: As mentioned before there are quite a number alternatives, I for example use http://www.pixlr.com/
   – High Quality 3D games: That's so extremely subjective... from a honest point of view, e.g. runescape nowadays would be high quality 3-5 years ago, so one should be able to enjoy them equally well.
   – Printing: ... ahem... I have been printing from google docs for ages...
   – iMovie: Not good enough yet, but http://jaycut.com/
   – Backup and restore software: Once it is on the net, you won't need backups anymore.
   – photo management: What about picasa web albums, though it will need improvements.

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

> Once it is on the net, you won't need backups anymore...

This is an important and interesting point. How much backup, and what kind of backup, do you need for important data on the web (for example your emails, or your photographs).

I reckon the following is fairly bulletproof:

1. Keep a copy on your home computer
2. Keep a backup of your home computer's disk
3. Keep a copy in the cloud on Gmail or Flickr

Anything less than that, and I can readily come up with scenarios leading to permanent loss of the data.

Google once made a vague comment that your Gmails exist "in two and a half places" on the cloud, or something like that. But half a copy isn't much use. It would be interesting to have some more technical detail about how Google backs up Gmail.

David Mulder [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

[put at-character here]Roger Browne: Still in the past few years I would only know about a single time data was really lost (bookmark data with ma.gna.lio (or whetever it was called)). Even in the case of Micro$oft Danger they successfully retrieved the data. E-mail and google docs might be worth backing up and important photos are worth printing (especially these photobooks you can compose on the net and get send home). Still people tend to be fine having their data only locally, yet when it is on the cloud people tend to become increasingly afraid of their data being lost, while it is actually in far safer hands.

Roger Browne [PersonRank 10]

14 years ago #

[put at-character here]David: Although the loss by ma.gnolia.com of their member's bookmarks is the highest-profile bulk data loss so far, it's not the only kind of data loss that people are affected by.

Suppose a new email provider comes out, and some Gmail users try it for a while. How many of those will realise that Google may delete all their Gmails if they don't login to Gmail for nine months?

As for the "Micro$oft Danger" debacle: although most of the data was eventually recovered, being without your cloud data for a few weeks could be pretty devastating for people who have put all their data into that same place.

I agree with you that "people tend to be fine" about their data, but that's only because most people don't expect data loss to happen to them. After it happens, those same people are suddenly "not fine" about the lack of backups anymore (for a while, at least).

PS: From Google's Gmail Program policies:
<<Google may terminate your account in accordance with the terms of service if you fail to login to your account for a period of nine months.>>
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/program_policies.html

From Google's Gmail Terms & Conditions Section 15:
<<Google ... shall not be liable to you for ... the deletion of, corruption of, or failure to store, any Content...>>
http://www.google.com/accounts/TOS?hl=en

Brian Mulligan [PersonRank 1]

14 years ago #

1. email oriented distributed project management software – could be linked to calendar and gmail.
2. CRM (ala Zoho) + workflow management.
3. Personal task management (ala GTDinbox Firefox add-on for Gmail) – implements Paul Allen's Getting Things Done techniques.

Someone tell me if these exist already.

Cavla [PersonRank 0]

14 years ago #

1. VLC
2. SketchUp
3. uTorrent
4. Something like Adobe Master Suite (i mean not the all suite but some stuff around it)
5. and many others...

Forum home

Advertisement

 
Blog  |  Forum     more >> Archive | Feed | Google's blogs | About
Advertisement

 

This site unofficially covers Google™ and more with some rights reserved. Join our forum!