Microsoft Working on Windows 10 Cloud to Take on Chrome OS

Chrome OS is making great breakthrough by offering a stable computing ecosystem for the users at a highly affordable price point without the need high end specifications. Reports has emerged that Microsoft is actively working a light weight version of its own Windows 10 OS in a bid to counter the ver growing popularity of the Chrome OS. Microsoft has named its light version as Windows 10 Cloud which will in the beginning will only offer support to the Unified Windows Platform or UWP app downloaded from the Windows Store. Some people are also calling this gimmick as a comeback for the Windows RT version and it will also helps Windows in boosting the amount of apps on its App Store.

Eye on the educational market

Chrome OS popularity is extremely high in the educational markets wherein educational institutions finds it as an affordable way of bringing technology to the young learners. Chrome OS relies heavily on the web based apps to bring variety of applications and usability for the users. It has been favored in the educational markets due to its light, fast and efficient operating system and Windows 10 Cloud will be Microsoft to Chrome dominance.

Microsoft has earlier launched the ill-fated Microsoft RT on the Surface tablets and it had an ARM based OS which only ran apps specifically built for this OS. It sounds lot like Chrome OS but it failed spectacularly due to the lack abundant as well as essential apps for the Windows RT. In similar fashion Microsoft is trying to rebrand its RT as Windows 10 Cloud as it name states this OS  will be powered by the Cloud as well as it will run on Cloud. This new OS is expected to take advantage of the Microsoft homegrown cloud based platform called Azure to run the apps.

Microsoft Windows 10 Cloud isn’t a surprise

It has been speculated that Windows will be launching a new edition of the Windows operating system in past couple of weeks. Some of the users have stated that it will be called Cloud SKU and they were very close but it was a Twitter user called The Walking Cat which brought the original screenshot of the Windows 10 for PCs with the Build number 15003. It also shows a reference to ‘Cloud’ or ‘CloudN’ which specifically denotes whether the version comes with Media Player pre-installed or not.

Microsoft has simply stayed away from confirming any news or updates related to the Windows 10 Cloud. But it is being widely believed that Microsoft will be launching the Windows 10 Cloud in the annual Build conference for developers in May. This move of bringing a lite version of the Windows OS to larger audience which can easily run on low specification based machines in future will certainly help in enhancing the market penetration and reach of the Microsoft. But such OS can also fail if Microsoft isn’t able to bring large amount of quality within a short succession.

Google Unveils Asus Chromebit 'Computer on a Stick' With Chrome OS

A new “computer on a stick” is being launched by Taiwan's Asus and Google, which has the feature of being plugged into a display and turning it out a personal computer. According to the blog posted by Google, the Asus Chromebit can be expected to available in the market around mid of the year with the lowest price tag possible.

Google further added that this device is like a candy bar in size, however, works as a full computer and they have currently priced it at $100. The device can be easily plugged into any display and then convert the same into a full computer. For an existing desktop this device is the perfect upgrade and can very handy for businesses and schools. Even though the blog didn’t emphasize on any other details, but it also focused on the lowest-cost Chromebook laptop computers.

These computers have been currently priced at $149 and have been started in collaboration with Chinese electronic groups Hisense and Haier. The Haier computer has an 11.6 inch display and is currently being sold via Amazon and Walmart has been offering the Hisense personal computer. Google has also produced other Chrome devices by working along with other manufacturers like Dell, Acer, LG, and Lenovo.

Haier Chromebook Vs Hisense Chromebook

The Haier Chromebook comes with an 11.6 inch display and is powered by a 1.8 gigahertz Rockchip RK3288 processor. This is a 3.3-pound package in which the buyers will get 16 gigabytes of eMMC flash storage, 2 gigabytes of RAM and a strong and durable battery. According to the company this battery has the potential of powering the Chromebook 11 for nearly 10 hours.

On the other hand, its competitor, Hisense’s Chromebook can be considered as the image of the Chromebook by Haier. It has similar specifications; however, has a slightly higher Rockchip processor. Its 2.5 gigahertz clock speed reduced the battery life and has been clocked around at 8.5 hours. Both these devices are available at the same price of $149 and available in the market at the same time.

Looking at the competition, Taiwanese manufacturer Asus unveiled their Chromebook Flip, which is convertible laptop and tablet (all metal). Even though technical specifications of the Flip are still not out, rumor mills suggest that the device will be launched later this spring and expected to priced at $249.

Google Chromebit

This device is a part of the newest wave of machines which are using Chrome operating system. Its clear that Chrome operating system has been designed to use internet-based applications like Google Docs word processor, email services apart from minimising our reliance on bulky local software which conventionally run on personal computers.

Now the entire task has been moved to a cheaper hardware and it will improve the security as well. Reports also suggest Intel is planning to start working on a similar kind of device which has been temporarily named as Intel compute stick. With passing time, difference between tablets, phones and television and PCs will no longer be visible.

Chrome and Android Merger Coming Close To Reality

The talks regarding the merging of the Android and Chore Os into one single platform is nothing new and it has been expected for a long in industry.

The Tech enthusiasts and analysts were apprehensive of the merger from the very first day Google introduced its cloud-based operating system. The Google co-founder SergyBrinhas also admitted to their merger in a single platform as long back as 2009.

Only now the reports are filling with show with positivity towards much waited merger news. The Wall Street Journal has reported that such a merger is looking extremely likely due to the change in the management structure inside the software giant technology department.

The Change In The Google Management Structure

The Vice President of the Google’s Android Division named Hiroshi Lockheimer has been appointed to overlook the task of Chrome engineering team. Earlier this job was performed by Linus Upson.

How Tech Analysts View This Change

The Tech analysts are of view is that this move should be seen in isolation rather than it has meaning hidden behind him. They have finally begun to see some synergy between the two platforms. Last month Google has even brought the first batch of Android apps which could run effectively well on its clod Os i.e. Chromebook.

These Android apps are Duolingo, Evernote, Sight Words and Vine. These applications could easily run on the Chrome by using the App Runtime for Chrome (the beta version); this project was announced by Google in June this year.

A Secret Project Called ‘Hera’ Points Towards Imminent Merger

The rumours suggests that the search engine giant is running an ambitious project inside named ‘Hera’ which would represent a huge step forward in effectively integrating the Google’s popular mobile-based operating system ‘Android’ with its web based operating system ‘Chrome’ and it powerful search platform.

The Merger of the three distinctive services will give a new kind of advanced experience for the users. Google is expected to do this by using a special Chromium build which is meant to run on Android and execute tasks through the web both for the Google and third-part apps as well.

There are rumours that this merger would allow the users to call functions from third-party apps without having to open the app. It is touted to be a great feature for enterprise users juggling multiple tasks on a small mobile screen.

The Future Prospects of the Merger

As of now the search engine giant is working with a select group of Android developers for adding more of the popular app on the Chromebook. It is also working towards developing such apps which would work seamlessly on both the platforms and could provide a unique and beautiful experience to its users.

Some even suggests that this project looks more like an Androidfication of the Chrome than just a merger of two services. Google wishes to introduce us toward a world where Chrome is the computing platform of choice for users and it would be able to run across various operating systems and devices flawlessly.

Test Out the Latest Chrome OS Features

Google has always given incredible technology driven products to the world. Electronic mails, search engine, cloud, analytics and so many Google products are available for different platform of computing technology. This time Google has come up with remarkable Chrome operating system and it is available in beta form currently. From the very beginning Google is known for proposing products to the people under the "beta" tag. For so many years Gmail was just a beta product and also Google Glass is presently under beta tag.

Now talking about Chrome OS, Google has allowed users to select the choice of running a beta version of the Chrome operating system if they wish. Basically there are three different channels available in this operating system which a Chrome OS user can select, each following a pattern of different update schedule and each channel offers different and fantastic features.

The Stable channel is one of the channels and it is set default for Chrome OS and it is the most consistent and reliable one. The best part about this channel is that it is updated in every few weeks with bug fixes and in every six weeks new features and changes are added.

Now coming to the next channel it is Beta channel which is for those who love to work with the advance and latest technology and features. It is updated in almost every six or seven weeks but I think it receives new changes and features a month before the Stable channel receives.

And now coming to last channel it is the Dev channel. Here new features are available but also errors and bugs are more here. It is updated around once or twice per week but still it has more bugs.

Switching from the Stable channel mode to either the Beta channel mode or Dev channel mode is an unproblematic progression, with the major portion of your time consumed waiting for the update to get download.

Now the most crazy and difficult part is to decide that which channel you want to switch and move to because selecting a good channel is must so that it coordinates with your requirements as well.

So here is a piece of advice that you can take while moving on to new channels. While moving on to less stable channels (meaning: moving from Stable to Beta or Beta to Dev channel) it is possible to move without losing or corrupting any information stored on your system. But if you are moving from Dev channel to Beta channel or to stable one, it will ask you to entirely wipe your Chrome operating system device.

So based on my experience I would recommend you to first start with Beta channel and then if you feel more exciting then you can go down to Dev channel to enjoy other features. And after you select a channel the Chrome will automatically download all the updates and after completion it will post a notification. And then with simply restarting the device the process of updating will finish.

So if you want to try any new OS then give it a chance, perhaps you will like it more than your current operating system. If you want to share your experience with this Chrome OS then please comment below and let everyone know.

The Origin of Web Browsers!

Jeff Nelson is often considered the "inventor" of Chrome OS, but it is in fact the inventor of Google OS: it began to develop its system several months before the start of work on Chrome. His idea was to develop a system that rotates and Web Apps that would be kind of a big browser on top of a Linux kernel has chosen to Firefox. Ironically, Firefox OS today is not very different from that principle. In 2006, Nelson was developing Web Apps for Google and was particularly frustrated by existing browsers, including their slow start.

 While SSDs are still very expensive, his whole system was placed on a RAM-disk, extremely fast launch Firefox went from 45 seconds to 1 second. The RAM-drives have the disadvantage of losing all their data if the power is off: it was not a problem for Nelson, as were all the apps and Web Apps that all data was backed up online. Even today, Google boasts that Chrome OS prevents any data loss. But at the time, Google executives were not convinced by the proposed Nelson, who resumed certainly a well-known concept, the thin client, but wanted to get him out of businesses and institutions. The main criticism was the lack of an offline mode, a default set from the local cache with HTML5.

 Why Nelson chose WebKit browser rather than Firefox? He does not say, but his choice may be related to the bad reputation of Apple's, she took three years to make open-source WebKit completely. In 2006, WebKit open source was only a few months, while Gecko was eight years. The decision to abandon Opera Presto divided in favor of WebKit web players today, with arguments reminiscent of the time. Some, including Nitot and behind the Mozilla Foundation, worry that the project led by the heavyweights Apple and Google stifles innovation that only competition and guarantee diversity.

They remind Opera is behind many innovations such as tabs, integrated search, gesture shortcuts, "top sites", etc.., A feature that could be erased with this rallying WebKit, piloted by two companies have their own objectives. Others recall with the WHATWG, Apple developers, Mozilla and Opera have greatly evolved in recent years the Web (HTML5, Microdata, etc.), and there is no reason to change that. They point out that while they share the same engine, Safari and Chrome are very different, Google and Apple working on two different JavaScript engines, two different concepts of interface and two different synchronization services. And there is no reason Opera does not continue to distinguish these three aspects.

Chromium Xi3

Chromium Xi3 is the first PC 100% Chrome OS. After the presentation of the first net books Chrome OS, which will appear in June, the first desktop operating system under which Google has been unveiled. Recall that the OS feature of Chrome is that it only works with the Cloud that is the data is stored online and not locally.