Google Launches Its Third Major OS!!
More information about ~|FUCHSIA|
~GOMATHI KEERTHANA R S😊
MORE RUMORS ABOUT FUCHSIA🤔
The Google Nest Hub is the world’s first commercial Fuchsia device.
Google is officially rolling out a new operating system, called Fuchsia, to consumers. The release is a bit hard to believe at this point, but Google confirmed the news to 9 to 5 Google, and several members of the Fuchsia team have confirmed it on Twitter. The official launch date was apparently yesterday. Fuchsia is certainly getting a quiet, anti-climactic release, as it’s only being made available to one device, the Google Home Hub, aka the first-generation Nest Hub. There are no expected changes to the UI or functionality of the Home Hub, but Fuchsia is out there. Apparently, Google simply wants to prove out the OS in a consumer environment.
Fuchsia’s one launch device was originally called the Google HomeHub and is a 7-inch smart display that responds to Google Assistant commands. It came out in 2018. The device was renamed the “Nest Hub” in 2019, and it’s only this first-generation device, not the second-generation Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max, that is getting Fuchsia. The Home Hub’s OS has always been an odd duck. When the device was released, Google was pitching a smart display hardware ecosystem to partners based on android things, a now-defunct Internet-of-things/kiosk OS. Instead of following the recommendations it gave to hardware partners, Google loaded the Home Hub with its in-house google cast platform instead— and then undercut all its partners on price.
Fuchsia has long been a secretive project. We first saw the OS as a pre-alpha smartphone UI that was ported to android in 2017. In 2018, we got the OS running natively on a Pixelbook. After that, the Fuchsia team stopped doing its work in the open and stripped all UI work out of the public repository.
Fuchsia is something very rare in the world of tech: it’s a built-from-scratch operating system that isn’t based on Linux. Fuchsia uses a microkernel called “Zircon” that Google developed in-house. Creating an operating system entirely from scratch and bringing it all the way to production sounds like a difficult task, but Google managed to do exactly that over the past six years. Fuchsia’s primary app development language is Flutter, a cross-platform UI toolkit from Google.
The Nest Hub’s switch to Fuchsia is kind of interesting because of how invisible it should be. It will be the first test of this Fuchsia’s future-facing Flutter app support — the Google smart display interface is written in flutters, so Google can take the existing interface, rip out all the Google Cast guts underneath, and plop the exact same interface code down on top of Fuchsia. Google watchers have long speculated that this was the plan all along. Rather than having a disruptive OS switch, Google could just get coders to write in Flutter, and then it could seamlessly swap out the operating system.
So, unless we get lucky, don’t expect a dramatic hands-on post of Fuchsia running on the Nest Hub. It’s likely that there isn’t currently much to see or do with the new operating system, and that’s exactly how Google wants it. Fuchsia is more than just a smart-display operating system, though. An old Bloomberg report from 2018 has absolutely nailed the timing of Fuchsia so far, saying that Google wanted to first ship the OS on connected home devices “within three years” — the report turns three years old in July. The report also laid out the next steps for Fuchsia, including an ambitious expansion to smartphones and laptops by 2023.
Taking over the Nest Hub is one thing — no other team at Google really has a vested interest in the Google Cast OS (you could actually argue that the Cast OS is on the way out, as the latest Chromecast is switching to Android). Moving the OS onto smartphones and laptops is an entirely different thing, though, since the Fuchsia team would crash into the Android and Chrome OS divisions.
What is Google Fuchsia OS?🤔🤔
- An all-new operating system
- It’s going to probably pivot and morph, Google says
Fuchsia is an evolving pile of code. It was originally added to Google’s code depository and on GitHub in 2016. The code is the early beginnings of an all-new operating system.
Crucially, it’s not based on Linux Kernel, the core underpinnings of both Android (Google’s mobile operating system) and Chrome OS (Google’s desktop and laptop operating system). Fuchsia is an altogether different beast.
What does Google Fuchsia OS look like?🙄
- Compiled Armadillo system UI has a card-based design
- When running on a Pixelbook, it only shows the time
Fuchsia has already been given an early user interface with a card-based design. The interface, called Armadillo, was actually first discovered by Kyle Bradshaw at Hotfix.
Unlike Android OS or Chrome OS, both of which are based on Linux, Fuchsia is built on Zircon (formerly Magenta), a new kernel created by Google. Meanwhile, Armadillo is built in Google’s Flutter SDK, which is used to create cross-platform code capable of running on multiple devices and operating systems. With Armadillo, different cards can be dragged around for use in a split-screen or tabbed interface.
In a blog post in late 2020, Google’s Wayne Piekarski says that “Fuchsia is designed to prioritize security, updatability, and performance” and that it “welcomes high-quality, well-tested contributions from all. There is now a process to become a member to submit patches or a committer with full write access.”
“Fuchsia is not ready for general product development or as a development target, but you can clone, compile, and contribute to it. It has support for a limited set of x64-based hardware, and you can also test it with Fuchsia’s emulator.”
Whether the visuals of Armadillo will ever become customer-facing remains unknown.
What’s the point of Google Fuchsia OS?❓
- It’s just a kernel at this point, so it’s anybody’s best guess
- Google is likely future-proofing itself with Fuchsia
One popular school of thought is that Fuchsia is a new OS that could unify Chrome OS and Android into a single operating system (something that’s been heavily speculated since 2015). However, recently surfaced documents and different bits from the code and UI assets suggest the OS likely isn’t a fusion of Android and Chrome OS, nor is it any OS. It’s just a core of an operating system, at this point — a kernel.
Google’s own documentation describes the software as targeting “modern phones and modern personal computers” with “fast processors” and “non-trivial amounts of RAM.” It also clearly states that “Fuchsia is not Linux.” And two developers listed on Fuchsia’s GitHub page — a senior software engineer at Google and a former engineer on Android TV and Nexus Q — are well-known experts in embedded systems.
As we noted, Fuchsia is built on Zircon, a “medium-sized microkernel” based on the LittleKernel project meant for embedded systems, such as a device that doesn’t require a whole OS, like an IoT device. Google’s documentation notes Zircon supports user modes, graphics rendering, and a “capability-based security model”. This all points to Fuchsia being an OS for IoT. Google previously had Android Things, but this is now being phased out — perhaps leaving the door open for Fuschia.
Will Google Fuchsia OS replace Android?
- A new OS would solve Android’s issues
- But Android is really popular; why reinvent the wheel?
Android still has fragmentation issues. This is caused by hundreds of devices from dozens of manufacturers using different, custom versions of Android — rather than the latest, purest version. Android also has update issues, stemming from the operating system being open source. Google has an annual release schedule for Android updates, but it takes a while for an update to fully flood the ecosystem.
You see, Google gives Android to OEMs and carriers and lets them tinker with it and load it onto random hardware, resulting in fragmentation. Google can’t directly push updates to devices if any modifications have been done. Android is also based on Linux, which has been dogged by many legal issues, and the kernel’s been completely tweaked, creating a prime environment for bugs and vulnerabilities to grow.
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A new operating system and platform would solve all these issues for Google. It wouldn’t be shackled by pricey patent licensing deals. It would be safer, built, and optimized for today. It could also be modular and be truly unified, meaning it would work across many devices. But, here’s the thing: Android is one of the most popular operating systems available.