Now that the Chrome OS pilot program has been in existence for about 6 months, news of Chromebook releases from Samsung and Acer were announced at Google I/O 2011, and the technical press has been filled with reviews and opinions about the necessity of such machines. As readers of my blog know, I'm a big fan of Chrome OS and my CR-48. I have 2 laptops, a netbook, a MacBook and my CR-48 in the house, in addition to 2 desktop machines, and I use my CR-48 almost exclusively. I think that the ability to use this machine as much as I do is a testament to the fact that most people use the internet primarily, and other, non-internet functions are secondary. There are those who claim that the Chromebook becomes a paper weight as soon as you loose internet connectivity, but by the time these machines hit the market, I believe that Google will have the off-line capabilities ready to go, or very nearly so. And what this means is that you can continue to work on your documents and email until you reconnect to the net, at which time the work you have done syncs to the cloud. Read the following article from JavaWorld to get their take on the Chromebooks fit in the enterprise.
Why Chromebooks do have a role in your enterprise - JavaWorld
Showing posts with label Pilot program. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pilot program. Show all posts
Monday, May 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Beta vs. Development Channel
I've seen some posts since the last update about users of the new Google Chrome CR-48 notebook computer wanting to return to the Beta channel because the latest update broke a number of things that people like to use a lot.
So, let's recap what the Beta and Development channels are and some facts about them. When you select the wrench icon in the tool bar you are presented with a menu of choices. One of those choices is "About Google Chrome." Selecting this will bring up the settings window with an open dialog with some information about the installed versions of Chrome OS and Chrome browser. There is a link to "More info..." which will change the view to a presentation where there is more information about a number of things, such as WebKit version and javascript engine version. There is also a dropdown here where you can select the Beta channel or the Development channel.
If you select the Development channel, you will be given a warning about the development channel being where things are newest and therefore more susceptible to breakage. If you then press the "Check for update" button, your CR-48 will find the newer version in the development channel and begin the download/update process. When this is completed (which can take a while since some updates are large) you will be notified that the CR-48 is restarting, and when it does, you now have the latest development build installed.
Now here is where you might decide that you are not real happy with the development build because something no longer works. Well, there is some good news! Almost...
You can switch back to the Beta channel by going through the same steps listed above. The almost is mentioned because you won't actually revert to an older version of the OS. You will only get a new version of the OS when the version in the Beta channel is newer than what is currently installed on your CR-48. So, you will be stuck with what you have until the bugs are ironed out and a new build is completed and tested and moved into the beta channel.
So, is there no hope if you are completely disgusted with the current build? No, not really, but you have to be prepared to do more work. Look in the Google Chrome forums for instructions on how to revert the CR-48 to the factory build. It will involve downloading an image onto a USB drive and burning that image into the CR-48's memory. I haven't tried that, and while the instructions are step-by-step, I don't know if it's something a non-techie individual might be tempted to do.
So, if you like cutting edge builds and want to be the first to try out new features, go ahead and grab the update from the development channel. Just be aware that there may be some bumps along this road and be prepared to accept them.
Let me know if you have questions!
So, let's recap what the Beta and Development channels are and some facts about them. When you select the wrench icon in the tool bar you are presented with a menu of choices. One of those choices is "About Google Chrome." Selecting this will bring up the settings window with an open dialog with some information about the installed versions of Chrome OS and Chrome browser. There is a link to "More info..." which will change the view to a presentation where there is more information about a number of things, such as WebKit version and javascript engine version. There is also a dropdown here where you can select the Beta channel or the Development channel.
If you select the Development channel, you will be given a warning about the development channel being where things are newest and therefore more susceptible to breakage. If you then press the "Check for update" button, your CR-48 will find the newer version in the development channel and begin the download/update process. When this is completed (which can take a while since some updates are large) you will be notified that the CR-48 is restarting, and when it does, you now have the latest development build installed.
Now here is where you might decide that you are not real happy with the development build because something no longer works. Well, there is some good news! Almost...
You can switch back to the Beta channel by going through the same steps listed above. The almost is mentioned because you won't actually revert to an older version of the OS. You will only get a new version of the OS when the version in the Beta channel is newer than what is currently installed on your CR-48. So, you will be stuck with what you have until the bugs are ironed out and a new build is completed and tested and moved into the beta channel.
So, is there no hope if you are completely disgusted with the current build? No, not really, but you have to be prepared to do more work. Look in the Google Chrome forums for instructions on how to revert the CR-48 to the factory build. It will involve downloading an image onto a USB drive and burning that image into the CR-48's memory. I haven't tried that, and while the instructions are step-by-step, I don't know if it's something a non-techie individual might be tempted to do.
So, if you like cutting edge builds and want to be the first to try out new features, go ahead and grab the update from the development channel. Just be aware that there may be some bumps along this road and be prepared to accept them.
Let me know if you have questions!
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