I really like Chrome OS, actually… I own a Chromebook but I always do wonder one thing… if Chrome OS supports installing applications now why doesn’t Google work harder to develop software for it?
Let’s look at Android Studio. I thought it would be fantastic to give it a try but I was really disappointed when I found out that it has no support for Chrome OS. Come on, Google… IT IS YOUR PRODUCT! The first OS that should have support is your own OS. Instead we have support for Windows, OS X and Linux. Fantastic, I am glad they decided to have support for multiple operating systems except for their own.
I know my opinion may not matter to them. I am sure they have their long-term goals setup for this OS already but what the hell. I think it is great that Google is looking to get in on the education sector. I know their long-term goal is to get children used to the concept of this OS and making it easily accessible to them with cheap devices is key for that. It really does do everything school related fantastically well. But why not aim a little higher? By this I mean programmers and developers. Why not add a badass native suite of applications that can be used by students for learning these key tools but also by professionals to do their daily work. The OS is perfect for this, it’s insanely simple to use and lightweight. It just needs more powerhouse apps to get the attention of the bigger players. Even if it is an online based suite of applications that function like Drive it would be better than nothing at all.
As it stands there is no real language editor available for it, would be nice to see something like a Notepad++/Cloud 9 Drive extension, there is no FTP client for it and there is Pixlr that works fairly well in a pinch for editing a photo. I’m looking at Android Studio again here… why didn’t we get a version of it for Chrome OS so that students or people interested in learning Android development can get started on it easily.
Google, you’re on the right path with Chrome OS but you need to see past your current target audience and expand this project. Perhaps the current set of hardware is the real limitation on running development applications such as Android Studio?
Meh… oh well. I guess only time will tell where this OS really goes.