Ubuntu Web booted up from the USB just fine and ran well on my old hardware. It has 4 GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5-2410M dual core/four thread 2.30GHz CPU. iso to a 4 GB USB drive, and tested it out in a series of live sessions done over several days, running on my ten year old System76 Pangolin Performance laptop. iso file and an MD5 checksum, which I ran to make sure I had a good download. The file is 2.6 GB, which is the same size as the regular Ubuntu 20.04.1 download. I downloaded Ubuntu Web using bit torrent. So far, the distro does not have its own website, just two hosted locations for downloads. Saraswat announced his intention to start a web-focused distro based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on 22 July, 2020, and four months later the first release, 20.04.1, came out.

It all means that Chromebook users are fairly dependent on Google for services. Chrome OS is Linux-based, but uses Google’s Chrome browser as its main tool.Ĭhrome is based on the open source Chromium browser project, but it is proprietary software, released under Google’s Terms of Service.Ĭhromebook users store their files on the cloud, using Google Drive, and get their word processing, spreadsheet and slide show presentation software online from Google Docs. Right now, there is not a lot of competition in the same market niche occupied by Chrome OS, but is there actually a need for a competitor? Saraswat noted that what sets Ubuntu Web apart from Chrome OS is that it uses open source software, and that it is privacy focused. Like Chrome OS, Ubuntu Web is a web-focused Linux distribution that uses its browser in conjunction with cloud services to get work done.Ĭhromebooks have been selling well during the pandemic, with over 30 million shipped in 2020, driven mostly by the need to get laptops into the hands of school kids studying at home during the pandemic. Ubuntu Web is aimed directly at the same market niche as Chrome OS, the operating system that ships on Chromebooks.

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