In the past few weeks since the release of Black Lab NetOS, PC/ Opensystems has been fielding questions about the differences between two similar products, CloudReady by Neverware and Cub Linux. This document will serve as our answer to these questions. Bearing in mind that operating systems in general have their adherents who like the way that certain software functions or a particular distribution’s feature set, this should not to be considered a criticism of either of the above platforms.
Comparison to CloudReady
CloudReady is a Chromium OS based operating system produced by Neverware. Because it is based on Chromium OS it shares many of its platform’s shortcomings. Everything is stored on the cloud; local storage is treated as a cache, so older data will eventually be overwritten by new. Another shortcoming of this platform base is this : because CloudReady is based on Chromium OS, changes in the base platform take a considerable amount of time to be reflected in Neverware’s product. Updates, when they do make their way to the end user, require a total reinstallation of the system. On the plus side, NeverWare provides both a free and a paid version for its users to choose from.
Black Lab NetOS is based on the stable LTS release of Ubuntu; with Google Chrome installed, it offers you the same app experience possible with ChromeOS. Netflix support is built in automatically, native PDF rendering Google Docs, Drive, Play Music. And when an update is available, the user only needs to perform a system update, instead of going through the time and trouble of a complete reinstall. Black Lab NetOS also has the ability to locally install Debian and Ubuntu Linux based applications alongside cloud web apps : the user can have the best of both worlds : lightweight web applications with no local libraries or dependencies as well as a platform for running full-featured client applications. Black Lab NetOS treats your hard drive like any other Linux OS : the data file that you saved to your hard drive today will be there tomorrow, next year, or four years down the line. Or, you can save files to your Google Drive, Microsoft OneCloud or Apple iCloud online storage; NetOS is powerful and flexible. The primary difference is this : NetOS can offer the user everything that CloudRready does, but the reverse definitely cannot be said to be true.
PC/OpenSystems LLC offers both a free and paid version for Enterprise and Education customers - the commercial version offers subscription option and greater level of support. Black Lab NetOS can be installed on much more diverse hardware than CloudReady; being based on Chromium OS, Neverware’s product does not have the wealth of hardware drivers available to NetOS. Black Lab Linux is an FOSS non-commercially supported release of NetOS which allows its users to contribute code, documentation or ideas that may make their way into the next released version of the product.
Comparisons to Cub Linux
Cub Linux and Black Lab NetOS share many similarities, but there are also significant differences. Both are based on Ubuntu, with the same available repositories and software selections, but that’s where the similarities end. Cub Linux is a completely community driven OS, using Chromium as its primary browser, with no LTS release. As with CloudReady, updates are frequent, disruptive and can cause user-facing issues.
Black Lab NetOS uses an LTS kernel of Ubuntu and stable releases of Google Chrome. So it has the same support for multimedia and data formats that Chrome OS has as well as the advantage of alll updates being thoroughly tested before they reach your system. Black Lab NetOS is a consumer product with paid support as part of the product. Non-enterprise releases have 30 days of free e-mail support as well as the option to order a yearly support subscription. Black Lab NetOS can be purchased on hardware or as a boxed set. Black Lab NetOS also enjoys more OEM certifications than Cub Linux and CloudReady.
These are the main differences between CloudReady, Cub LInux and Black Lab NETOS. We think that the choice is pretty clear. For more information please visit the following sites. When you make the informed choice, visit our webstore and order your copy today. If you’re feeling adventurous, download it free.
These are the download links :
For more information on Black Lab NetOS :
Black Lab NetOS Enterprise
Black Lab NetOS Education
Webstore
