If I asked anyone who remembers the gOS Linux distribution to raise their hands …Well, chances are no-one would.
gOS was a short-lived, green-coloured Ubuntu-based operating system that made a splash in 2008, when computer manufacturer Everex preinstalled it on a range of PCs and netbooks.
Devices running gOS were almost exclusively sold at Walmart, the American retail chain. It may sound weird now, but back then you really could walk into Walmart and buy an Ubuntu-based PC, like the ‘mac mini’ style gPC (more on that oddity in a bit).
But first, let us start where gOS began: on the Everex Cloudbook.
The Everex CloudBook
gOS – and Everex, to a lesser extent – are mostly closely associated with the CloudBook.
It wasn’t pretty, and it sure as heck wasn’t fast, yet the Everex CloudBook rode a wave of hype around the fledgling netbook segment.
Tech press of the day saw it as an ‘ASUS EeePC killer’, though specs-wise it was largely inferior in every regard bar one.
Everex Cloudbook specs:
- Display: 7-inch screen (800 x 480 resolution)
- Processor: 1.2 GHz VIA C7-M
- Memory: 512MB RAM
- Storage: 30GB hard disk drive
- Weight: 2 lbs (approx. 0.9 kg)
- Ports & Connectivity: 2x USB 2.0 ports, ethernet, Wi-Fi, built-in webcam
On paper, it read better than the original EeePC: a 1.2Ghz VIA chip vs a 900mhz Celeron chip, and a comparatively roomy 30GB HDD over the 2GB or 4GB flash storage ASUS’ offering was equipped with.
But in reality, it wasn’t a contest.
The VIA-line of processors was never known for blistering speed, but in combination with a mediocre amount of memory and a painfully slow 4200RPM HDD, this thing wheezed. It could take nearly 3 minutes just to boot up.
And the there were the harder quirks. The CloudBook had a bizarrely placed trackpad above the keyboard, as this video from the era demos:
Reception to the hardware brought the CloudBook’s potential firmly back to earth, but reaction to the gOS operating system the Cloudbook shipped was largely positive for the era (issues with the low screen resolution notwithstanding).
Future updates to the system refined its feature set and ironed out kinks. Later versions of the OS, like a MySpace-infused edition that shipped on the MyMiniPC, were even described as ‘simply amazing’ by tech blogs like Slashgear.
Yet, for all the promise, it barely registered as a footnote – what happened?
gOS, the Good Operating System
gOS was a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu 7.10 (later 8.04 LTS). Originally, it ran on the E17 (Enlightenment) desktop environment, but later adopted a Compiz-powered GNOME 2 interface to provide better compatibility with apps.
Long before Chrome OS was a glint in Google’s eye, gOS made heavy use of web apps. Popular sites of the day were available in standalone format thanks to the (similarly forgotten) Mozilla Prism project.
Preinstalled web apps in gOS included:
- GMail
- Google Maps
- Google News
- Google Talk
- Blogger
A little Google heavy, right? Indeed, the ‘g’ in ‘gOS’ was often assumed to stand for Google, despite the developers having no relationship with the search giant. The ‘g’ actually stood for ‘good’, though since it used a green theme, that worked too!
Web-apps aside, gOS also preloaded a variety of native apps installed by default:
- Firefox
- Skype
- Thunderbird
- OpenOffice
- Wine
- Xine
- Google Gadgets
—Ahh, Google Gadgets – worthy of a ‘do you remember’ entry of their own:
The interface of gOS was also typical of many Ubuntu users desktops at the time: a lurid (in hindsight) theme, inconsistent icon set, layerings of largely pointless UI fluff, a dock with animated effects and applets and icons peppering the panel.
The OS would switch between using the lightweight wBar dock and the (at the time) 3D-dependant ‘Avant Window Navigator’ (better known as ‘AWN’) to power its iconic bottom dock during the course of its existence.
UI flip-flopping was indicative of the distro itself. It could never decide if wanted to be a ‘good looking Linux distro’ or an OS capable of running on the (often) limited hardware it shipped on. There were 3 variants in all:
- gOS Rocket G
- gOS Rocket E
- gOS Space
And later gOS Gadgets.
What happened to gOS?
I’ll say it: gOS has to be admired for being one of few Linux distributions to ship on actual consumer hardware by default. Being sold on the shelves of Walmart on $199 PCs is a feat few (any?) distros have rivalled since.
But there’s a green elephant in the room: gOS vanished.
Swelled by the initial success of gOS, David Liu, the distribution’s founder, began developing a truly web orientated OS, called ‘Cloud OS’.
A handful of devices running Cloud OS were shown off during Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2009.
Despite promises of hardware deals that would see the OS ship preinstalled on Windows laptops, it was the last gasp for the nascent Cloud OS and the trailblazing gOS.
The gOS website went offline; Everex shut down its American operations in 2009; David Liu moved onto creating the Chinese microblogging service “WoZai”.
I reached out to gOS founder David Liu when writing this article, hoping to glean more detail and information on why the OS was abandoned. Sadly, he didn’t reply.
Yes, you can STILL download gOS to try
Reading about gOS is one thing. Want to try it out? Mirrors of the last available .iso are still available to download. Since they were primarily made for 32-bit CPUs in 2008, don’t expect them to boot on modern hardware.
You can easily setup a virtual machine to ’emulate’ a 32-bit machine.
Or scour eBay or Vinted for an old netbook and throw it on that – real nostalgia.
I haven’t been able to find other versions, like the one with MySpace integration, available. If you know or or even have an .iso or old install disc, consider sharing it online for preservation.