Kibbles & Bytes Blog

It’s shaping up to be a Google news-filled week, as Google announced this morning that they will expand their offerings to include an operating system–Google Chrome.

Nine months ago, they released the Google Chrome browser, which was designed to give the (Windows) user a truly integrated Google Apps experience, along with fast and virus-free web surfing. (Chrome browser is not available for the Mac.) They have taken these features to their operating system, in what Google calls a “natural extension” of the Google Chrome browser.

Based on Linux, Chrome OS is an open source operating system initially created for netbooks. (Seems like a natural fit, no?) It’s been described as very simple and lightweight, with “most of the user experience tak[ing] place on the web.” Google also uses a line that has been uttered by many a Mac user: “It just works.”

Hey, any OS that shows PC users that operating systems don’t have to be clunky is OK in my book!

Google will make the Chrome OS open source code available later this year, with netbooks running the OS available for consumers in the second half of 2010.

“Read Google’s press release here.”:http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

Today, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and GTalk had their beta labels removed.

Gmail, in particular, has been operating in beta mode for a considerable amount of time–it launched in 2004–so it seems Google finally feels ready to release it officially into the wild…?

The beta label clearly doesn’t mean as much as it used to, since there was no big announcement to speak of when the apps switched over from their former mode. They all look and behave the same way they did yesterday, as far as I can tell.

However, there are changes, and they’re aimed specifically at businesses. Google wants their offerings to be viewed as legitimate competitors to Microsoft et al. It’s understandable that no matter how reliable a service may seem, the beta label would still keep many companies from utilizing it on a professional level. Again, Gmail is a good example.

Gmail now has offline access to mail and calendars, among other new features. There’s better contact management for Google Apps and better compatibility with Microsoft Outlook.

“Check out Google’s blog about the topic here.”:http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/google-apps-is-out-of-beta-yes-really.html
“Read more about their changes for enterprise here.”:http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2009/07/paving-road-to-apps-adoption-in-large.html

Check out the apps for yourself:

“Gmail”:http://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/about.html
“Google Calendar”:http://www.google.com/googlecalendar/about.html
“Google Docs”:http://www.google.com/google-d-s/whatsnew.html
“GTalk”:http://www.google.com/talk/about.html

It was a quiet switch, but welcome to life beyond beta, Google Apps!

__P.S. If you really miss it, Google has provided a way for Google Labs users to re-enable the beta label under Settings!__

Google has many excellent, free applications and services for Mac. I rely on many of them literally almost every single day I use my Mac, both at home and at work. Some of the apps are desktop-based (you download and install them on your Mac’s hard drive), while others are browser based (you run them via a web browser while connected to the web).

From Google’s Mac page, you can download Google Toolbar for Firefox, Picasa for Mac, Google Earth, SketchUp, Picasa Web Albums Uploader, Notifier for the Mac, AdWords Editor, and the Google Quick Search Box. Visit Google’s Mac page by clicking here. Note that the Google search bar at the top the page limits results to Mac Sites—which can be useful when looking for Mac-specific information.

A notable absence is Google’s new Chrome web browser. Chrome is currently only available for Windows, though a Mac version should be out this autumn.

Through a web browser, Mac users have access to nearly all of Google’s free web services, which include Gmail, Google Calendar, Reader, Sites, iGoogle, Blogger, Google Talk, Finance, Book Search, Groups, Knol, Video, Search History, Google Analytics, AdWords, and many more titles. Click here to see these.

Google has a Mac-centric blog which often features interesting Mac-related news, tools, and ideas. Click here to see this.

Click here for a link to Google Mobile, which features software and services for mobile phones, including the iPhone and iPod touch.

We measure our success by the triple bottom line of People, Planet and Profit with our social mission being as important to our success as our commercial goals.

We look at our “money machine” of Small Dog Electronics as a tool to provide livable jobs to our employees, build an extraordinary workplace and to provide the fuel for our social mission by supporting local and national organizations and by continuing our ewaste initiative that allows us to be the only electronics retailer that can boast that we recycle more electronic ewaste than we sell.

Our employees are active in the communities we serve. While we provide a mandatory paid day off to perform community service, we have found that many of our employees put in time well in excess of the company-sponsored community service program.

Our charitable giving program grew out of an employee suggestion and is customer driven. We have a number of “pet charities” that we support by matching customer donations from our active web site.

Our social mission defines our soul and is an essential part of Small Dog Electronics. Our commercial mission supports our social mission and vice versa. It is who we are.

_Dear Friends,_

The weather has not been very summery here in the Green Mountains, as we have received a lot of rain and cooler temperatures. This has impacted some farmers who cannot get into their fields to harvest their first cut of hay both because the tractors don’t work that well in mud and because the sun is an important element in hay harvesting. Back when I first moved to Vermont and was a student at Goddard College, I worked at many odd jobs, including helping a French-Canadian farmer with his haying. On a sunny summer day, he would call and say in his heavily accented voice “time to pick up da bales.” I’d gather together a few friends and we would spend a hot summer day loading hay bales onto a trailer and then haul them to his barn and to stack them. Hard work, but a very fond memory.

The 4th of July was wet, too, although the gigantic slug we had for the Prickly Mountain float made it through the parade without getting rained upon. We have some interesting traditions for our float. We cannot come up with the idea more than 4 or 5 days before it is built, it must be people-powered and we have a strict $300 budget. Nevertheless, we have created some amazing floats and usually win the “Best Overall” award. I was inside the slug helping to carry it down the parade route. I haven’t been in the Prickly float for a couple of years since we have ridden our bikes in the parade in support of the local motorcycle rally. This year, I noticed that the inside of our float had been upgraded with duct tape cup holders and other accoutrements.

As you may have heard, the great news is that Steve Jobs is back on the job at Apple. Reports coming from the campus in Cupertino say he is looking good and energetic. While Apple seemed to roll on while Steve was on his medical leave, there is no question that he is the heart and soul of Apple. It is his vision and business sense that have led one of the most remarkable business stories in history. Welcome back, Steve!

In other Apple news, the latest “Guide to Greener Electronics”:http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/greenpeaceusa_blog/2009/07/01/guide_to_greener_electronics_12th_editio from “Greenpeace”:http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/ continues a trend in reversing their pointed criticism of Apple by giving them higher marks. While Dell, HP and others are delaying plans to remove PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFR), Macs are nearly free of PVC and have no BFRs whatsoever. We encourage Apple to continue to lead in this important area!