Comment Re:Who is the audience? (Score 1) 349
As a business tool, it's all but useless. Google provides no mechanism for installing even standard Linux VPN software which most companies provide for their remote employees. Or any other software, for that matter. Also, no company with a brain in their head is going to allow employees to be storing internal data on another company's servers. This might be a little more useful if a company could customize it to use internal servers rather than Google's, but as far as I've been able to tell, that option just doesn't exist.
This was addressed in the December 7 launch event. Google has deals worked out with a number of businesses (they had a list, it was at least one or two dozen) that are extremely interested in replacing as many of their machines as possible with Chrome OS notebooks. In addition to Google Apps and internal company websites, it will support Citrix, which they had a demo of: you can log into the company's servers and run Office or any of dozens of other major corporate applications remotely. (I can't find a link to the video, sadly; I watched it live and the URL stopped working after it was over.)
The major advantage is zero maintenance burden. By design, Chrome OS notebooks are totally interchangeable. You can chuck it out the window, grab another one, enter in your Google login info, and you won't be able to tell the difference. It also will never get viruses; it updates itself without user intervention; and the lack of customizability means it's unlikely users will be able to mess it up to the point that IT has to get involved. There go all your OS-level customer support costs.
Chrome (thus presumably Chrome OS too) is also deploying features that will allow corporate admins to lock down the browser, the way IE has supported for years. The employer can require that certain extensions be installed, disable the password manager, and much more, with more features to be added as time goes on. And you can't get around it by installing another browser, because you can't install anything.
No, Chrome OS is a corporation's dream. Idiot-proof, tamper-resistant, and zero-maintenance.