chief
Prime VIP
Google’s upcoming Chrome operating system is designed to basically do away with all third party apps by basically making the web browser into the only app you need. The browser will act as a media player, word processor, and just about every other app you’re used to running on your desktop by using a combination of web-based apps and built in features like support for audio and video files.
But it looks like Google is also planning to include a feature unofficially called “chromoting” that will let you run third party apps — on a remote computer. Basically, you’ll be able to login to a remote PC and control it through the Google Chrome web browser.
There are already third party tools such as LogMeIn that let you remotely control a computer through a web-based interface. But LogMeIn requires you to install a client on the computer you want to control and a browser plugin. It sounds like Google could be planning to build the remote control functionality directly into the Chrome OS web browser.
While chromoting might not actually let you run third party apps on a Chrome OS netbook or tablet, this feature could let you run a PowerPoint presentation from your desktop which you haven’t yet moved into the cloud, or access files stored on your remote computer from your mobile device. It could be a pretty nifty feature, even if it’s similar to one Microsoft has been offering for a decade.
