If the rumors are true and Acer does show off Chrome OS hardware at Computex Taipei 2010, the largest computer exhibition in Asia that starts on June 1, it’ll be a world first. But it’s not known for sure if Acer will be running Chrome OS on a netbook. Maybe it will be a tablet. And, it might be just a tech demo, showing a beta version of Chrome OS.

Whenever Chrome OS hardware finally ships, the world is ready for a lightweight OS with a seven-second boot time, accessing its apps in the cloud with a simple, free interface. If it’s a success, for many users who just need an operating system that stays out of the way, the answer to the perennial question “Mac or PC?” will be “No.”

Can’t wait two weeks? Check out http://www.netbookpack.co.uk

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Are you planning on purchasing an iPad? Please comment below!

1.) The Name
Numerous names were being thrown around in the months/weeks leading up to the release (iTablet, iSlate, iPad) but which name was Apple going to choose? We had grown accustomed to referring to the device as the iTablet, could even see calling it the iSlate… but iPad never seemed quite right. Why would Apple want to name their new product something that sounds so familiar to the iPod? Some people are objecting to the name referring to it as the “iTampon“.

Talk about foresight, this Mad TV iPad skit aired several years ago… and easily became 10x funnier.

2.) No Multitasking
Are you serious…? Who thought this was a good idea? How can the iPad even compete with Netbooks if you can’t multitask? This means that if you’re writing a document you can’t listen to music, you can’t have TweetDeck open if you want to check your email, you can only do one thing at a time, which has always been a complaint with the iPhone.

3.) No Camera
Why is there no camera on the iPad, front or back? It’s got a microphone… but no camera. Look at the size of the case that surrounds the screen, there is ample space for a camera. The iPad should’ve at least came with a 3-megapixel camera built in. As it stands, this means no iChat/Skype chat for you. Good move Apple, good move.

4.) Huge Ridiculous Adapters
Want to access your camera or plug in something USB… well there’s an adapter for that, actually 2 separate adapters both excessively huge.

5.) Same Touch Keyboard
The iPad needed to re-revolutionize the keypad for touchscreen devices, make it easier to use. So what did we get… just a larger version of what we already had. It’ll be incredibly hard to type on, unless you’re lying flat with your knees holding the device up, or you buy the iPad Case (essentially a book cover).

BONUS: No Flash (We just couldn’t stop at 5)
Most of us are probably accustomed to Apple devices not being Flash compatible, but if Apple is truly wanting to compete with other Netbooks they need to remedy this. With a larger screen comes more responsibilities, i.e. you can’t just leave gigantic holes in the middle of webpages if you claim it to be “the best web experience you’ve ever had“.

The iPad is still in its infancy, so we’re sure that it’ll get better with time. Only time will tell if Apple’s iPad will be a success or an iFlop.

Now read on… BBC’s ‘clicks’ made a good comment, too. It’s the netbook, the smartbook, people don’t want to buy a keyboard as an accessory. Can you see any student reading a book without listening to music? So we are back to Chromes OS, the fast emerging market of the netbook and the software which makes best use of it. Like Netbook Pack, a Chrome OS version ready for your Netbook today.

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With the advent of Windows 7, many users have been scrambling to compare the OS to Apple’s leading product, OS X Snow Leopard. However, in the midst of the competition concerning the two products, Google’s new Chrome OS has been relatively ignored. Even so, this new player in the market may very well follow the same path as the netbook itself, the platform that Google is aiming for with the Chrome OS, set to be finished and released in the second half of 2010.

So, in the wake of the battle between Apple and Microsoft, what exactly is Google’s Chrome OS? It’s a new, lightweight, open source OS produced by Google which is almost entirely dependent on the cloud, to the point where the entire OS is composed of almost nothing but the Chrome browser. Instead of attempting to produce a fully fledged OS (operating system), Google and the free software community are working to produce an OS that focuses on being as lightweight as possible, yet can handle all of the basic needs of the average user, relying on the growing success of web applications such as Google Apps, YouTube, Facebook, Gmail, and much more.

It’s already been shown that convenience, simplicity, and instant access can easily trump alternatives in the computer industry, demonstrated by the striking popularity of the smartphone, netbook, Craigslist, and similar products. This is where Chrome OS shines and where Windows 7 and Snow Leopard do not: providing a cheap, small, fast alternative to Windows 7 and Snow Leopard, potentially even overcoming the two with an always-on, lasting, secure, and cheap computer that is more than capable of handling quick computer tasks.

Why wait for your MacBook or laptop to boot up and finish loading when you can press a button on your netbook and be almost instantly greeted with a login screen, or, depending on your security settings, a browser? Although you may not be able to play Crysis or run Visual Studio, the average user tends to access social networking or business applications far more often and for shorter periods of time than the previous two. And the user did meet a need to access such applications, then they can turn to their occasionally more powerful alternative to satisfy that need.

With this in mind, that’s also another one of the powerful benefits of the OS: it’s not meant to become your primary PC, similar to a smartphone. For those of you that own a device such as the iPhone, Droid, or the Palm Pre, how many times have you decided to simply reach for your phone to update your Twitter status or your MySpace/Facebook instead of getting up and walking over to your computer? What if you also had a device with the same ease of access that could also edit photos, produce videos, manage passwords, access the Bittorrent network, provide a complete office suite, transfer large files, convert files, or do just about anything else?

Google Chrome OS may finally provide something similar to a smartphone 2.0, a more powerful and feature complete sister product that is just a little larger in size. Just as the iPhone completely redefined the market, Google’s Chrome OS may turn out to achieve a similar milestone in the personal computer industry. Not only that, but if the OS is popular among the general population, then it will only help to strengthen Google’s status as a major player in the market, all the way from a basic search engine to a powerful threat to Microsoft and its Windows products, while also helping to spread the success and familiarity of the Linux kernel that the Google Chrome OS is based on.

More important, there are more than 7 Mill netbooks out there, waiting to be upgraded. And the solution is around the corner. Netbook Pack – a slick version with the same functionality, available today. Maybe 2010 becomes a different OS race altogether.

Comments welcome at whytwitter @why_tweat

In today’s computing world, 12 months is a ‘light year’. We have seen various versions of Chromium, Cherry’s and lately our own Netbook Pack. With Google and its device partners gearing up to drop the first Chrome OS netbooks on us by year’s end, 2010 may well be called the Year of theNetbook; it might already be an ‘old hat’. Whilst the market predictions believe there will be a significant increase of netbook sales in 2010, what happens to all the existing netbooks? Upgrade (downgrade), Windows platform, or..? There are 7 Mill university students ready to upgrade…

The pitch is easy: What’s not to like about a $300 (or less) netbook, lighter than a pound, travelling with us everywhere we go, booting up in 7 seconds and running much faster than the current Windows version, laptops or Mac computers? Since Chrome OS runs all its software on a cloud I won’t need to buy, install or update any software – sounds good. (whytwitter commented)

Remember, Google succeeded with organic and paid search because it understands what people want – and that’s the whole pitch for Chrome OS – a different model of computing, lean and mean, running web applications really, really fast and costing next to nothing. So what stops the market to develop all sorts of “Chromish” versions prior and along side? Nothing. And consumers have the choice, well before Chrome OS hits the market.

The first signs are already here

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Google may have plans to release a Chrome-based, Google-branded smartbook (or netbook) – the legendary Google PC – after getting the Nexus One smartphone out of the way in January 2010.

According to Michael Arrington from Techcrunch, Google has already submitted a request for proposal to a hardware manufacturer – which we believe would be Asus – with a list of “detailed technical specifications”.

Google has said from the beginning that they plan on working with select manufacturers to ensure a good Chrome OS experience for users when devices first hit the market next year. From an early FAQ : “The Google Chrome OS team is currently working with a number of technology companies to design and build devices that deliver an extraordinary end user experience. Among others, these companies include Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.”

The device, Arrington says, ought to be ready for the 2010 holiday season – one year from now – and will be sold directly to the consumers in the US and presumably over here as well.

A 3G connections appears to be the only dead cert specifications at this point in time although we expect it to be an ARM-based model with a 10-inch screen with 16GB flash memory, a keyboard and all the functionality that you would find on the Nexus One. Maybe Google should call it Nexus Two.

Arrington reckons that the device might run on Nvidia’s Tegra Line that currently powers Microsoft’s Zune HD. The Tegra 2 is set to be launched next year and is said to be twice as powerful as the first one, thanks to a dual core configuration.

But knowing Google, it is likely that they might even want to tweak the processor their way as Apple often does with its Intel-based hardware. Unlike Apple however, Google is starting from afresh – without the legacy of the x86 platform – and is unlikely to stick with Intel.

Having said this, there might be a wide choice for consumers as the hardware platform will be widely open. So consumers can have a choice between MS, Chrome or the new generation like Netbook Pack.

Twitter: @why_tweat