gOS - Operating System - Free

gOS is an freely distributed operating system based off of the Ubuntu distribution and Enlightenment window manager. Most notably, it comes pre-installed on the affordable Everex series of PCs. It is marketed as an alternative O/S that includes a minimal amount of installed desktop software, relying heavily on online web applications like GMail, and Google docs for productivity. gOS does come with open-source pre-installed software packages like GIMP and OpenOffice. gOS can be downloaded for free, and fits compactly on under 2GB of disk space.

Microsoft's rivalry with Google heated up considerably this past year when rumors surfaced that Google might release its own operating system to compete with Windows. Has Google finally jumped into the fray with its own OS?

Unfortunately, no; gOS is not a "Google OS" nor is it affiliated with Google (though Desktop Linux has reported that Google has seen gOS and approved inclusion of the Google toolbar with the operating system).

gOS is developed by Good OS LLC out of Los Angeles. It's based on Ubuntu Linux 7.10 and runs the Enlightenment E17 interface instead of KDE or Gnome. Despite not being created by Google, the focus of gOS is Google's online applications such as GMail, Google News, Google Maps, Google Calendar, YouTube, etc. It's a neat concept for a Linux distribution, but how practical is it?

Pros & Cons

Pros:

•Can be downloaded for free
•Slick, customizable interface reminiscent of OS X
•Includes productivity software like GIMP and OpenOffice
•Helps keep PC costs down

Cons:

•Additional applications need to be downloaded via Synaptic package manager
•No recycle bin
•Minimize, maximize, close buttons are at the top-left of the window
•Downloadable version can't play DVDs or mp3s without additional library installation and configuration.

More information

Versions History

gOS 1.0.1 was launched in November, 2007 and was featured in the Everex gPC. At CES 2008, on January 7th, 2008 the current version (v2.0) debuted and is known as gOS Rocket.

Download the gOS 2.0 beta here - http://thinkgos.com/downloads.php


• gOS official site - http://thinkgos.com/