What Chrome OS Means To You
For starters, some people are already wondering if they should wait for the OS before purchasing additional hardware. Although the Chrome OS has potential to cause some changes in the industry, we won’t know how big these changes will be until the OS is actually released. Bottom line, if you’re in the market for a netbook today, you might as well spend the money now and enjoy using the machine until Google figures out how and when it will begin to offer the Chrome OS.
Today’s computers require a platform (i.e. the OS) that provides applications (such as a web browser) with access to the hardware resources of the computer. Google believes that an operating system’s functions could be combined with those of a browser and plans to integrate the two with its new OS. As a result of this integration, it’s quite likely the Chrome OS experience will be different from the way we interact with a computer’s main control program today.
We don’t know how this experience will differ just yet, but it’s quite likely that the Chrome OS will utilize cloud-based storage and services, especially since some of Google’s current offerings such as Google Docs would benefit from such a setup. Also, we wouldn’t be too surprised if Google uses a folder/label system similar to that found in Gmail. It’s possible the Chrome OS could borrow interface elements such as a tabbed interface from the current Chrome browser as well.
Behind the scenes, the Chrome OS will be an adaptation of Linux. As you’ll recall, the first netbooks came with Linux-based operating systems. While these operating systems did the job, it didn’t take long before manufacturers figured out that users greatly preferred a Windows XP netbook over a Linux netbook, even if the former was a bit more expensive.
Given the history of netbooks and Linux, Google
certainly has some challenges to overcome if it is going to succeed in the
netbook market. Not only is the netbook market a small one compared to other
markets, but many netbook buyers are also purchasing the machine as a second,
portable computer. For these users, a different operating system tends to be a
stumbling block. Despite the challenges, Google has plenty of incentive to give the Chrome OS a good try. If it succeeds, Google and all of its products stand to benefit. Plus, in the long-term scope of things, if Google can put a dent in Microsoft’s share of the OS market, Microsoft may see more of a need to make their own operating systems more Web-friendly. This too, would benefit Google.
It will be interesting to watch what happens in the market as the Chrome OS gets closer to launch and finally becomes available. Launching a new OS is certainly no small task, but competition in the market generally leads to better products overall, so we can’t complain.
Comments
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Why do I smell a "Monopoly Law Suit" coming sometime in the future? 1 Browser :: Check:: Internet Explorer 2 Email Account :: Check:: Outlook 3 Google Docks :: Check:: Office 4 Chrome OS :: Check:: Windows Anyone see the pattern the only difference as we all know is the Google first started to be a Search Engine and hey they got the Assets (MONEY) to do what they want to do. Now what they needs is 80% Market and then you would see those lawsuits coming their way.... God I love how difficult it is in this country to make money! |
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It's not illegal to have a monopoly. An illegal monopoly is one that leverages its presence to prevent competition. That's why Microsoft was found guilty and convicted. Google can't be sued for taking market share from Microsoft (though I personally would like no one to have a majority share). |
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My impression from what has been published on the Google Blog is that Google's idea of an OS is something very different - and much lighter - than Windows, or, indeed, Ubuntu, which I generally use. If Google can deliver on this promise, the new OS will be a doozer !... Henri |
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[q] It's not illegal to have a monopoly. An illegal monopoly is one that leverages its presence to prevent competition. That's why Microsoft was found guilty and convicted. Google can't be sued for taking market share from Microsoft (though I personally would like no one to have a majority share). [/q] Oh please you build a software and that software gets pick and used by 90% of all computers and because it you get sued... Please lets be realistic they are genius and everyone else that "could not compete with them" throws them a lawsuit! |
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>> used by 90% of all computers and because it you get sued. I think you're blissfully unaware of Microsoft's business practices and why they were sued. If you want to actually know why they were convicted (yes, they were convicted), there's a gem of consolidated information in the European Commision for Interoperable Systems paper "Microsoft: A History of Anticompetitive Behavior and Consumer Harm" (http://www.ecis.eu/documents/Finalversion_Consumerchoicepaper.pdf) Here are some quotes from MS themselves that shows how they've purposely used their Windows monopoly to kill off competition with their other software: “ [ W ]e need to make sure Windows 3.1 only runs on top of MS DOS.” —David Cole, Microsoft Senior Vice-President “The approach we will take is to detect dr [DOS] 6 and refuse to load. The error message should be something like ‘Invalid device driver interface.’” —Phillip Barrett, Microsoft Windows Development Manager “I have decided that we should not publish these [Windows 95 user interface] extensions. We should wait until we have a way to do a high level of integration that will be harder for likes of Notes, WordPerfect to achieve, and which will give Office a real advantage…. We can't compete with Lotus and WordPerfect/Novell without this.” —Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and then-CEO “Microsoft first proposed to Netscape that, rather than compete with each other, the two companies should enter an illegal conspiracy to divide up the market. When Netscape refused, Microsoft then used its Windows monopoly to, in Microsoft’s own words, ‘cut off Netscape’s air supply.’” —Joel Klein, Assistant Attorney General (quoting Paul Maritz, Microsoft’s then-Group Vice President of the Platform Applications Group) There are plenty of other quotes in that document about some just downright evil things Microsoft's done to prevent competition. It's an entertaining read after you make it through the introduction. |
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Unintended consequences?? I live in a small town - distant from a major metro area and am limited to a single broadband provider which happens to be wireless. My connection speeds frequently dip below typical dialup. So, I expect, does everyone else who signed up for this service. Poor speeds will generate complaints to ISPs. More and more pressure will be brought to bear on ISPs to demand that their line providers, Comcast in this case, upgrade their lines. Comcast, and other major line owners won't want the burden (read: expense) of upgrading and will formulate ways of battling Google, whose new Chrome browser/OS will require more and more bandwidth use by its users. |
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Dude I jsut cannot believe it man! RT
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