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Let’s Get Ready to Rumble – Jolicloud vs Chrome OS

Posted on 22. Aug, 2010 by Julien Cadot in Features

Making comparisons is always difficult, especially when one tries to compare apples-to-apples something complex like and operating system. But here goes anyway.

Ladies and gentlemen, on the left corner, please welcome one of the most anticipated operating systems, the 10 second-to-launch, fully browser operated Google Chrome OS! On the right corner, ladies and gentlemen, the outsider  no one knew before its release except true geeks , the prince who wants to be king before the king has the crown, the black-wallpapered and not-that-clouded Jolicloud!

Everyone should have noticed: we’re dealing with a very much alpha preview version of Chrome OS and a fully functional one in Jolicloud. Unfair to compare? Not really, since I have also alpha tested Jolicloud. I promise, I’ll try to keep that in mind during the comparison.

Which of them will win?

Note : since I loaded Chrome OS from my USB drive, screenshots cannot be taken, so they are from my netbook screen.

The first thing you need to know is that Tariq Krim, the man behind Jolicloud, has given his program a wrong name. As Daniel Cawrey has already noticed Jolicloud is not – and is not meant to be - fully “cloud compliant”.

Before Jolicloud 1.0, one could have hardly noticed any differences with the so-called “clouded OS” of Jolicloud and Ubuntu Netbook Remix. It appeared to me yet another Linux build, with social network stuff I’ll probably never use.

Complete and fast apps manager. Check.

Indeed, with Jolicloud, installed apps are actually on your hard drive. When you write something, when you paint something, when you edit your pictures, your files are not web-based. You can use Jolicloud without a network.

So, why is it “cloudy” you ask ? Well, the native Jolicloud build has a lot applications to synchronize your work or share things with your friends on the web, such as Dropbox, Box.net, Twitter, Facebook and so on.

Chrome OS doesn’t rely on native applications to be cloud compliant: the way it is set up right now everything must be done with your Google Account, meaning you need to be online for the most part to even use your computer.

Chrome OS’s expected window overview.

Actually, Jolicloud and Chrome OS are really catered to different needs. With Jolicloud, you still have the choice to run it offline and you must synchronize your things manually. With Chrome OS, everything’s “Googlified”, so everything you do is synchronized with your Google account, reachable everywhere.

With the Jolicloud 1.0 release, the previous main screen has become the whole operating system. The OS hasn’t changed but its design has.  This means an overhaul of accessibility, settings and customization. Jolicloud’s final version is actually closer to what I thought Chrome OS would look like.

A navigator inside a navigator.

Jolicloud’s pre-beta release had a menu on the left where we could switch between categories. There are now tabs and dedicated pages for a basic use of Jolicloud.

Chromium and Chrome on Jolicloud.

But still, it’s quite difficult for the moment to compare Chrome OS and Jolicloud because Chrome OS looks more like the Chrome browser with options rather than a real operating system. But I guess that’s the point.

My suggestion? If you want to get used to Chrome OS before its release, you should consider installing Jolicloud.

There is a file browser in Jolicloud, and I think that is something people will always want. An OS without a file browser looks to me like a desk without drawers: you can work on it, but you don’t have access to your good old stuff, slowly and carefully built-up and sorted over the years.

Earlier this year, former Chrome OS lead developer Matthew Papakipos promised that a media player would be integrated to Chrome OS and we saw just a few months ago a screenshot of a file browser.  From what I have seen thanks to Hexxeh’s latest build, Chrome OS is still an internet browser without the typical OS refinements quite yet.

Chrome OS’s expected file browser.

Today’s reality.

So who wins in a fight between Jolicloud and Chrome OS? Right now, it’s a draw since there aren’t any real commercial products on the market that use either of them. Of course, in the end, we must not forget that both Jolicloud and Chrome OS are both efforts that bravely bring something new to an industry ruled by Microsoft and Apple. They have understood that users do not need everything Windows or OS X can do on a netbook or a tablet.

Julien Cadot is a regular contributor to Chrome OS France. We’re expecting great writing from him going forward with more in-depth articles such as, “How to Screw up your USB Flashdrive with a Never Tested Version of Chrome OS”. Thanks Julien!

Tags: apple, Box.net, Chrome OS, cloud computing, Dropbox, Facebook, Google Account, Hexxeh, Jolicloud, Jolicloud 1.0, Jolicloud review, Jolicloud versus Chrome OS, Linux, Matthew Papakipos, Micosoft, OS X, Tariq Krim, Twitter, Ubuntu Netbook Remix, Windows