Google Chrome OS

Google have unveiled official plans to produce a desktop operating system. They've had murmurings of this for a while now, much like Microsoft have had their cloud OS on the quiet for a while too, but this is the first foot forward publically.

Stuff has a fluff article on Google plans Windows Rival. This says it comes 2H 2010, will run through Chrome, and is designed for netbooks. Despite being touted as a Windows rival in the article, I think we can all agree that Microsoft's strengths are not in light weight netbook operating systems. I would expect the Linux crowd to be interested in this though.

The original note from the Google Blog, Introducing the Google Chrome OS, has some more details. Some salient points here is that, like Chrome, we can expect Chrome OS to be open source. It's designed to be simple and fast, probably necessary in the netbook market, which has implications for battery life and the human interface component. It will be x86 and ARM compliant, meaning it hits about 99.99% of the netbook market out of the gate, and even reaches well into standard notebook territory for those people who need that. However, what you can see here is that it's not really a new OS - it's Linux with Chrome welded over the top, using a new windowing system. It will be an ideal platform for web applications.

This is not a replacement to Windows or Android, it's a separate project to provide some sanity for user-class people who want a decent netbook experience. Your netbook experience at the moment is somewhat restricted - Windows XP, some flavour of Linux, or Windows 7. XP is old and chunky and out of popular development. Linux requires you to maintain it yourself to some extent and be more than just an "expert user." Windows 7 hasn't arrived yet, although it promises good things when it does ship in October. However, Chrome OS will provide that missing piece - a user level OS that's simple, lightweight, and just does online transactions. Because of the Chrome pedigree you can expect the Google Apps stack to "just work" and for many people that's an ideal experience. A cheap netbook with a 3G card can be your computing platform for 99% of your needs in a work context - now that's game changing. Whether Windows 7 provides viable competition for this remains to be seen, but Windows 7 has a small disadvantage - it carries a substantial price tag, and that's not typically where the netbook market has a level of tolerance (they're supposed to be cheap).

If you're interested, there's the usual channels of debate over on /. - which also links to the NYT article, Google Plans a PC Operating System, on this. Ars Technica has two articles on it (Google OS Lives, and Google's Chrome OS: what it means, why it matters) with a few more bits and pieces. A Wikipedia page on this has already arrived.

It's a very exciting time.

The Cost Of Entertainment

I don't write much on here anymore, but I've seen something recently that's given me some pause for thought.

Historically I've simply given my purchases for media of various types (games, DVDs, whatever) to my Internet niggers Mighty Ape in Auckland. They have shown a history of good service to me, and competitive pricing. I say a history of this, because whilst their service is still comparable, their pricing isn't anymore.

Both Dick Smith and JB HiFi have started to really compete in the NZ retail market, bringing excellent pricing to the everyman - plus the convenience of being local and carrying stock. I can't think of a recent time that I've wanted media of some kind that both of these suppliers didn't have stock of it. But here's the real kicker - both of them have stock for less than Mighty Ape in Auckland.

This becomes interesting when the price changes significantly. Games at a hundee? Ok, no big deal. Games for $120? Starting to hurt, but maybe. New price - games at $140?! You can eat a bowl of dick on that. Compare - Mighty Ape sell the new Wolverine game for $130... I grabbed a copy from JB HiFi for $116 - Dick Smith have it for the same price (I have a loyalty card). In stock. On the shelf. Immediate satisfaction.

You can leverage excessive pricing if your brand is good, or your service is exceptional, but if you've got a business that's not generally excellent in any way, you're going to struggle to get that extra coin from people. I'm now questioning my purchasing default - thinking now that the idea of paying a $15 tax to get something elsewhere is probably not that smart.

I'd be interested in how other people approach this. I like to think of myself as a loyal customer, but there's a tolerance to getting fisted, you know?

What Am I?

Wizards are scions of arcane magic. Wizards tap the true power that permeates the cosmos, research esoteric rituals that can alter time and space, and hurl balls of fire that incinerate massed foes. Wizards wield spells the way warriors brandish swords.

Magic lured you into its grasp, and now you seek to master it in turn. You could be a bespectacled sage searching for dusty tomes in forgotten sepulchers, a scarred war mage plying foes with fireballs and foul language in equal measure, a disgruntled apprentice who absconded with your master's spellbooks, an eladrin upholding the magical tradition of your race, or even a power-hungry student of magic who might do anything to learn a new spell.

A cloak of spells enfolds you, ancient rituals bolster your senses, and runed implements of your craft hang from your belt. Effervescing arcane lore pulses through your consciousness, a constant pressure craving release. When will you know enough magic to storm the ramparts of reality itself?

D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium

Subscription Services

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Yesterday I had the chance to catch up with a good friend, and we talked briefly about subscription services. You're probably all familiar with the idea of these sorts of things, where you might pay monthly fees for Netflix, your MMOs, or your telephone.

Where things get more interesting is when companies want to start delivering their core products as a subscription bundle. Initially it sounds attractive - you've got some protection from the eye watering capital cost of, say, Microsoft Office. Where things come unstuck is a consumer's ability to service multiple subscription channels.

All of the big corporates looking at these technologies don't, to my mind, have a mature service offering. They're expecting consumers to be willing to die a death of a thousand cuts to have their particular slice of a subscription service. Whether it's your subscription to Norton AntiVirus, or Office Live, they all start to add up - and you will notice this constant drain on your cashflow.

As an alternative mechanism for allowing consumers to get product, I can see it being useful. What really concerns me is the shark grinned zealous persuit of these monetisation models by corporate suppliers. Whenever I see that, I see that they think they've discovered a way of getting more money out of you, rather than making it easier, or trying competitive monetisation models.

Perhaps as the offerings mature, we'll be better placed to be comfortable about it. I mean, if one company (say, Microsoft) could offer you Office, some sort of anti-virus, a managed backup solution, and a managed web/portal solution, you'd be talking about some value for paying a fee per month for. The problem is, there isn't a supplier who's got a good enough offering there for you to really want to subscribe. Either they don't have all the solution, or they can't charge you in one convenient discounted lump, or whatever.

For now, I'm happy to keep buying the software I want. I'm not concerned about front loaded capital cost for things that have value to me, but I know that increasing demands on my finances monthly lead me into a situation where I can get locked in to what I'm paying monthly for (because I can't afford to get out due to reduced cashflow), as well as reducing my general cashflow across the board. This model works well enough to encourage competition because in order for a company to get more money from me, they need to justify that their new/upgraded product provides me real value - in a subscription model, there's not a huge incentive for them to innovate because they've already got your money.

Phat

Image via Wikipedia

I treated myself to a couple of new CDs yesterday - Invaders Must Die, and Dance Bitch. Both are excellent examples of what they pretend to be, there's no filler here, and you will sweat as you groove.

Once again I tip my hat to The Prodigy for delivering an excellent first track - a signature start to a refined Prodigy experience. Fatboy Slim is doing his thing in excellent style.

If you like Big Beat, Break Beat, Dance, Electronic, or similar genres then look after yourself and pick 'em up.

This Weekend's Round Of Demos

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It's been a good start of the year for games. Despite the mad rush of titles into 2008's Christmas period (as per usual), this year has started with a number of blockbuster releases. I've spent some time recently with the following:

• Dawn of War II
• Halo Wars
• Killzone 2
• FEAR 2
• Resident Evil 5

I'd have to say that of all of those, RE5 is the one I decided to not buy on the basis of the demo. Halo Wars I wanted to check out to confirm that it would control and work on a console, and it's magic as far as I'm concerned - it works well. A little simplistic (a la original DoW- where you get your team and just sweep 'em across the map) but the resource management system and base building and so on just works, and fits a console well.

DoW II is spectacular. It's really, really good. I'll say no more on it but it's a must-buy. I think I have more fun with this than anything else; Halo Wars would be #2.

FEAR 2 - surprisingly fun. I don't know if you played the original, but the AI was a juggernaut. I never finished it because it was just cube farm after cube farm; the game got real boring. FEAR 2 is much more interesting, diverse environments, with the same slightly creepy thing - far better in atmosphere than RE5, and it controls well (they don't re-invent console controls, it just works; if you've played CoD or Halo you'll be fine). I stopped playing it because it makes me violently motion sick - I think it's the head bob in it, I'm not sure. So I might get it, but I'll need to get some ginger first.

Killzone 2 was CoD4 levels of awesome, except for one thing. That one thing was the controls - they decided to re-invent the control scheme for shooters on console. It's not as retarded as RE5, but it's not great; the stick to cover mechanic doesn't stick, you need to click a thing, and the click thing is the same as crouch, so it's a bit maddening. All up, I think you can ignore cover though, it's a competent shooter and extremely pretty.

Finally we have Resident Evil 5, which is just junk. I mean it's got great atmosphere and looks stunning, but you can't get into that because the controls hold you back. Your dude is essentially a mobile turret - with the changes from being a dark and spooky game to a daylight game, we're in the situation where it's not scary, it's just an overly complex shooter. Co-op might be fun, but I'll never know because the controls gave me code rage.

My purchase order is:

1. DoW 2 (CE on pre-order)
2. Halo Wars (CE on pre-order)
3. Killzone 2 (not pre-ordered, will wait for price drop or 2nd hand)
4. FEAR 2 (not pre-ordered, will wait for price drop or 2nd hand)
5. RE5 (not pre-ordered, probably won't ever buy it)

Advanced Levels of Service

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Today I wanted to give a quick shout out to Dick Smith Electronics.

There's this messy situation here in New Zealand with Guitar Hero World Tour. Basically, if your GHWT is faulty, you don't just take it back to your retailer - you fill out a complex RMA process online, and then take the faulty unit to your retailer. Said retailer is then your agent to broker support with Activision, and you need to await your repaired/replaced unit from Activision.

This supposedly takes no longer than ten days. If you've just stumped up almost $200 on a copy of World Tour with a guitar, and find you can't play it for ten days, you're not going to be the happiest of chaps.

I got World Tour over three weeks back, and my replacement guitar hadn't arrived back. Dick Smith appreciated my conundrum, and offered (without prompting on my part) to just take a bath on it - they gave me another guitar from floor stock of World Tour, and now have to go through a messier brokerage with Activision. Regardless, I now have a working (I hope, I'll test it tonight) guitar, and am a happier customer.

Now that's retail going the extra mile and showing their value - where processes break down, they take the pain so you don't have to.

I'm Addicted To Dawn of War II

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This weekend saw me with the ability to check out three amazing demos - 1) the Dawn of War II demo, released via Steam a couple of weeks back, 2) the Halo Wars demo unleashed onto Live, and 3) the Killzone 2 demo on PSN.

It would be unkind to compare Halo Wars or Killzone with Dawn of War II for the simple reason that DoW II has completely consumed my life. Halo Wars has been downloaded; I didn't even get around to switching on the PS3 for long enough to grab the Killzone demo from PSN.

Dawn of War II is, quite simply, fantastic. The "beta" is surely that - there's rough edges aplenty amidst the polish, and those of you on slightly less ordinary hardware (I tip my hat here to a friend on a Macbook Pro) will see CTDs if your drivers aren't immaculate. Despite the rawness of some of the presentation (it is, after all, a beta and not, "Code complete,"), the game is what I like to refer to as, "Fun complete."

No doubt I will get into a detailed reprise on it as I play more, but it left me feeling like I'd just spent a couple of days playing Diablo as an RTS. The hero and unit level ups are delightful, and the new focus on the action rather than building your base is a great change from the standard RTS formula. The armies feel relatively balanced - your Mage-like Eldar are scrawny and fragile, yet bring the rain in a way that deserves respect. Space Marines fight for the God Emperor, and their stance commands respect - at the expense of eye watering per-unit build cost. Tyranids are bugs with rail guns, which never gets old. And the Orcs are all that you'd expect, rough and ready.

This is a worthy successor to an excellent francise. It's better than I'd hoped for, and I can't wait to have the retail release later this month. Bring on tonight, when I can play some more.