gOS and Gigabyte to launch Cloud netbook

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 2nd December 2008

The new touchscreen netbooks from Gigabyte will offer gOS's Cloud operating system alongside Windows XP.

If the Google Phone – a.k.a. the Android-running HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1 – wasn't enough for you, rejoice in the news that Gigabyte is set to release netbooks featuring the Google-themed 'Cloud' from gOS.

The Linux-based operating system – heavily influenced by Google's work and featuring none-too-subtle branding, but actually standing for Good OS rather than Google OS – is due to turn up pre-installed along with Windows on a new range of touchscreen-enabled netbooks from Gigabyte, according to Engadget.

Cloud, as its name suggests, is a lightweight fast-boot Linux variant that pulls applications from the 'net rather than having them installed locally. With access to Skype, YouTube, and Google's brace of office applications – including Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, and the ever handy Google Mail – the system will provide a nearly instant-on system for common daily use that is designed to complement, rather than replace, Windows.

A gOS spokesperson claimed that the technology it is developing with Gigabyte will allow the new-model netbooks – which resemble teeny-tiny tablet PCs, rotating touchscreen display and all – to “power on to the Internet in seconds, while still supporting killer applications together with Windows XP.”

The team has gone quite some way to produce an aesthetically pleasing operating system, with a touch-friendly Mac-inspired icon dock for commonly used programs at the bottom of the screen and a web browser that has a definite Chrome feel about it from the pictures released so far. Whether the system will have enough grunt to be usable, and what exactly happens when you are unable to connect to the Internet, remains to be seen.

The Cloud system is to debut on the Gigabyte netbook range at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2009.

Is a dual-boot Windows and Cloud netbook just what you've been looking for, or should companies concentrate more on providing a fast-booting primary OS rather than bloating the system out with a secondary boot option? Share your thoughts over in the forums.