Lack of offline still hobbles Chrome OS

Chrome Hobbled by Missing Feature

If you like living your digital life in the browser, then the Chrome OS (review) could be a clanging clarion siren that's hard to resist. It's fast, geared for an Internet tether yet able function on its own, and it's a bold step into the future of how operating systems work. The Chrome OS will be available to the public on June 15, and Google and Samsung gave CNET an early look at the coming Samsung Chromebook.

Chrome OS's local file navigation in action.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

 

While only CNET's New York office received a review model early, the operating system constantly updates and so the San Francisco-based team was able to examine the latest version of Chrome OS on the original Chrome OS laptop, the Cr-48.

Basically, Chrome OS is a low-to-mid powered operating system that has the potential for mass appeal, much more so than what we saw back in December 2010 when the Cr-48 launched.

Google has made some nifty improvements, all available on the Cr-48 because they're all enhancements to the operating system. There's a decent local file browser, for one thing, and the latest version of Chrome performs much better on the anemic Cr-48 hardware than the original version of Chrome OS did.     Read More