Does the New Tab Page in Chrome OS count as the Chrome OS desktop in your opinion (in mine it definitely does)? Please explain your votes in detail.

I do NOT consider it a desktop.

1. You can't minimize everything and find it there.
2. It can be opened in any ol' tab (true, you can pin it to the first tab but also, any other tab
3. Apps will (most likely) open in the same tab (I *might* reconsider if they changed this, like jolicloud.)
4. There's only "app" shortcuts. I don't like that they took off Most Visited and Recently Closed.

OK, this might be the closest they get to a "desktop" but there are are other blank page alternatives out there too.
Why would you consider it a desktop over any other blank tab page?

I don't think the new tab page is a desktop because a desktop is a graphical front-end of a directory, as opposed to a new tab page which is a graphical front-end of a collection of bookmarks. And that is fine with me. I don't miss the desktop in Chrome OS. Some Conky-like settings would be nice, but since the Cr-48 does so little locally, I don't find that I really need to monitor the system settings.

Well, in my opinion even though it is fundamentally different from a desktop underneath, it still behaves like one. The app icons are like icons (or "shortcuts") on a desktop, the page can be themed like a desktop (a theme can change its background image), and the tab list behaves like a panel/window switcher (while also blending in with the New Tab page). It sure looks like a desktop even though it may not be the same under the hood.

Originally Posted by Doughbury

I don't think the new tab page is a desktop because a desktop is a graphical front-end of a directory, as opposed to a new tab page which is a graphical front-end of a collection of bookmarks. And that is fine with me. I don't miss the desktop in Chrome OS. Some Conky-like settings would be nice, but since the Cr-48 does so little locally, I don't find that I really need to monitor the system settings.

I like this definition. I guess I would say that it is a cloud desktop. It is what a traditional desktop is to a traditional computer. To a cloud-based computer, it is a desktop.

@topcat: Your #4 says that there's only "app" shortcuts. I still have Most Visited and Recently Closed. I'm on the dev channel with the most recent build.

Yeah, the "Most visited" and "Recently closed" are actually menus that pop up from the bottom of the screen.

It's not a desktop to me. I haven't had a traditional desktop on my personal computers in a long time and it's closer to those systems (tiling window managers if you're curious) than windows, kde, gnome, etc. I never feel like I'm going outside of the browser to a "higher" level like a desktop when I go to the new tab. If anything going to iGoogle is more like a desktop than the new tab.

The desktop is an attempt to make a computer analogous to real life desks, which seems unnecessary at this point. Chrome OS is designed to be simple enough to understand without having to be tied to the old desktop metaphor.

In my opinion it more closely resembles either the Android 3.0 "Apps" view or, even more closely, the desktop on the iPhone or iPad. It is still customizable (having a background image that can be changed, icons that can be moved, and for the most part the rest of the browser blending into it), and Chrome OS does have what you would normally call desktop features: a task switcher (the tabs), workspaces (or windows), a (pseudo-)desktop (the New Tab page), and a themable UI.

Originally Posted by Scott Oldfield

@topcat: Your #4 says that there's only "app" shortcuts. I still have Most Visited and Recently Closed. I'm on the dev channel with the most recent build.

That's the old page. There is a new one that you can use that only has the icons (I don't have a link to it right now). I thought that the OP was referring to that one. When I tried it, I did not find the Most Visited and Recently Closed - I looked for them.

Topcat, take a look at these screenshots:

screenshot-20110405-195536.png

screenshot-20110405-195605.png