http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/03/i...ooks-keyboard/

What do you think of Chrome OS? What are its strengths or shortcomings?

The picture above is reportedly the keyboard of a laptop featuring this OS.

Why are we seeing this keyboard? Are we supposed to divine something from this keyboard? The arrow keys look wierd though...

edit: I also see that the image you posted is of Acer "ZGA" Netbook, not the leaked chrome image.

The arrow keys are bad (imo). The Up/Down should be equal to the Left/Right buttons in size and I think those buttons should be concave = easy navigation/games.
The Left Ctr and Left Alt keys are gigantic.
The Right Ctr and Right Alt keys seem "squished".

All in all, a very very good design but they didn't nail the last row.

I think in games and programs, there should always be an alternative to arrow-keys, because in some other language configurations arrow-keys can be sacrificed to provide letters out of ASCII-area. Like in Scandinavian N900's up/down arrow-keys are behind Alt-key, so for example zooming in and out in Fennec with keyboard is very difficult.

The lack of Fn keys will make small kittens cry and the Arrow keys don't look as if they will make for comfortable gaming at all. Ok, AWSD are their but some games are better played with Up,Down,Left+Right.

That said, what games are planned for Chrome at this point?

I think any game where up/down keys are important would use WASD, or you should use a gamepad. Why settle for using direction keys that are on the right side of the keyboard?

Well, this is just a prototype of a netbook that's supposedly designed for Chrome. Notice that there's no Caps Lock, and that there's no delete key.

For a web enabled device, this simplified keyboard may actually be beneficial to novice users, and lack of function keys are hardly a concern for the Chrome browser (remember, this isn't a traditional OS).

I really like the large track-pad, ala the macbook line, and am hoping that the laptop is thin, and has incredible battery life. With just the chrome browser running on the OS, it should be significantly easier to tune for really long battery life.

Would I get one? No. I use chrome and think it's a brilliant browser, and look forward to the chrome store. However, I still rely on Ubuntu and the CLI for many of my tasks, but with Chrome installed, I can still get the best of both worlds.

However, for casual users, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this: a computer that's main interface is the browser, is the epitome of simplicity. No more app management, file management, installation, maintenance, support calls to me to help with a system that should be beaten with a bat and then thrown out of a plane... You get the idea.

It's the computer as an appliance: a powerful concept.

This is a good question. Chrome features NaCL which allows apps to run at native speed and very securely. Once a NEXE is compiled (using any language that has a compiler that can produce a NEXE), the app can be put on the web and leverage HTML5, and web gl to provide a traditional OS experience. No more javascript only apps.

Unity 3D the gaming development environment, supports NaCl and as such, you can expect that many games will be ported to the web. Here's a video of a working game: Lego Star Wars 3D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRrX7Rb1PdA

Maybe, if and only if someone who buys a device with this OS can hop behind the scenes should they choose to do so.

I seriously doubt this out of the box. Besides, the kernel and libs are likely to be seriously stripped bare as they only have to service one incredibly predictable application.

You're better off getting a netbook (linux or windows) and sticking the latest Chrome on it. Of course, if you value convenience and you can live your life in the "cloud" then this is something that may appeal to you.

I'm sure someone will eventually jackhammer Ubuntu/Fedora/Suse/Slackware(?) on this machine, but I seriously doubt the hardware will be worth the trouble. Besides, knowing Acer, they will have a variant running a traditional OS.

Another interesting prospect is using the device as a thin-client for a beefier system on your home service. With a web-app with CLI capabilities, and web-apps for streaming, it may make a compelling solution even if you don't want to live in the cloud. I fully predict there will be projects around apache geared to this precise function.