Google has been making a case that Chromebooks aren’t just for casual computer users who only need to access web apps — but also for business, education, and government users who might not need a full desktop operating system to get work done. One of the first institutions to jump on the bandwagon is the city of Orlando.

The city’s system administrator says employees will be able to use the Chrome OS laptops in meetings, while working from home, or just about anywhere else. But here’s the catch: they won’t just be running cloud-based apps such as Gmail and Google Docs. They’ll be using a new web-based interface for VMware View which allows them to run Windows desktop apps hosted on a remote computer through a web browser.

In other words, Chromebooks offer a low cost solution for cities such as Orlando in part because they offer the ability to run desktop apps without paying for the hardware to run those apps.

So while Chromebooks, with their starting price tags of $350 might seem rather expensive when compared with a typical 10 inch netbook which comes with Windows 7 Starter Edition preloaded, an Acer or Samsung Chromebook could actually be a relatively inexpensive solution for enterprise customers that typically pay a premium price for software and security features.

The Ericom AccessNow software for VMware View supports Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS, with the Chrome version relying on an HTML5 interface.

via Chrome OS Site

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2 replies on “City of Orlando to deploy Chromebooks (with VMware remote desktop software)”

  1. anyways if one wants to make a windows pc tamper resistent this had been possible a long time time since. the functions needed are downloadable from ms for free and were intended originally for the administration of internet cafe workstations.
    there is no real argument for chromebooks .. not one, but many against

  2. Or…  They could do the same thing on a full featured OS such as Windows or Linux since those support the same browser plugin that ChromeOS does…

    I think the advantages here are in maintenance since the user literally can’t do anything to screw up their system, like install malware.  It’s only from the enterprise IT standard that Chrome OS make sense really, especially as thin clients.  

    I don’t think the consumer world is really ready for this product though, since always on internet connections aren’t ubiquitous yet, aren’t really that cheap yet, and without careful planning a ChromeBook isn’t going to be more than a paperweight.

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