Good OS founder: 'Cloud' on netbooks to be shown at CES

Although not divulging many specifics, David Liu, the founder of Good OS, said this evening that netbooks will, in fact, be demo'd at CES running the company's new Cloud OS.

"While I can't disclose detailed information, I can say that Cloud [OS] will be shown running on netbooks at CES," said David Liu, the founder of Good OS, in an e-mail to BetaNews Friday evening. Liu was responding to a request for information about Cloud OS, a product that brings together a compressed edition of Linux with a browser built by Good for use in the netbook environment.

As BetaNews reported earlier today, from the Cloud browser, users can access lightweight Web applications such as Google Apps or Yahoo Mail. Cloud supports Internet media formats such as Flash for video sites like YouTube and MP3 for music downloads.

Yet Cloud OS, the new OS to be shown at CES, also offers the ability to load into either Linux or Windows XP without the need for manual reboot. Users can switch from the browser environment to either Linux or XP -- or just power off -- with a single click.

"[But] I can also say that the demo [at CES] will reveals more of Cloud's features, shifting emphasis to its originally intended emphasis -- cloud computing - rather than just how fast it boots," Liu told BetaNews this evening. "To me, [how fast it boots] is just a checklist item, and will increasingly become this way. More information to come at CES. Thanks and sorry I cannot provide more hints!"

Good OS also makes the gOS used on the sub-$200 desktop PCs sold at Wal-Mart. The most recent version of a Good-enabled desktop PC, Evermax's Everex PC2512 gPC, is bundled with the Linux-based OpenOffice.org productivity suite,
the Skype voice over IP (VoIP) application, the RhythmBox music management app, the Xing audio player, and GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program).
The PC also provides direct links to Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Product Search, Blogger, YouTube, and Google Maps.

For under $200, the Linux-based desktop machine provides a 1.5 GHz Via C7-D processor, an 80 GB hard drive, 512 MB RAM, a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, and stereo speakers. The memory is upgradeable to 2 GB. No monitor is included, however.

Also as previously reported, research released by IDC earlier this week indicates that low-cost mini-notebooks, or netbooks, will help to buttress overall PC sales volume over the next few years.

Good now plans to work with OEM partners to provide customized versions of its new Cloud OS for netbooks. PC makers will be able to pre-load Cloud into the PC hard drive, solid state drive, or on-board flash storage, or on CD for end users to install. Multiple recovery methods using either CD or hidden partitions will also be made feasible.

Cloud will also be customizable to boot into a specific application, such as Skype, instead of to a Web page.