Mere hours ago, Google did something that's pretty surprising, and that will impact the netbook, and maybe PC market: It announced its own operating system, Chrome. It's open source.
Google announced the news on its blog, setting a clear agenda for all to see. "The operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web," it said in the post, noting that Google Chrome OS--which will be based on the pretty successful Chrome browser--will be Google's "attempt to re-think what operating systems should be."
That sounds bold, but Google has a lot of brain power available to make it true. The OS will be open source, lightweight and have "speed, simplicity and security" at its core. The lightweight and simple aspects are clear from the fact that the OS is going to be initially targeted at netbooks--it's absolutely a separate project from Android, (which we guess puts to rest to some of those Android on netbooks rumors). And if you think XP and Windows 7, along with proprietary Linux installs, have too much of a stranglehold on that market, think again. Because Google's also said its in talks with OEMs and that you can expect netbooks bearing the Google OS from the second half of 2010.
As if that's not enough, the way Google appears to be re-thinking an OS is completely new. Chrome OS is designed to be instant-on, with a minimal interface and most of the user experience will happen via web interactions. Chrome will run within a "new windowing system" superimposed on a Linux kernel, and the whole thing will work like it's in a browser. Consequently "all web-based applications will automatically work" so developers will supposedly be able to write software that runs on Chrome, and in browsers on Windows, OS X and Linux machines. Chrome is also going to work on both ARM and x86 architectures, meaning everything from smartphones to smartbooks to netbooks to full-on desktop PCs. Yup...Google admits its got its sights on running your home PC.
How will Chrome OS work? I'm betting that some of the key components will be cloud-based, which is implied by the instant-on aspects of the project. If Chrome is extremely lightweight, and merely a sophisticated portal onto a cloud-based OS, then when you flip on your PC it'll be up and running swiftly, and ready to access lots of data on a distant server which is already on, and already speedy. I'm prepared to be wrong about this, though--Google could have more surprising tricks up its sleeve.
Needless to say this is dramatic news, and its repercussions for the netbook and even full-on PC industry could be significant. After all, Android has been a great success for Google on smartphones. Can Google produce a quality OS that people will enjoy using? A very positive sign in support of this is that Google appears to be ready to accept community input in the design of Chrome: "We're definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision." Let's just hope that this designed-by-committee approach results in a racehorse, and not a camel.
The final question, of course, is "Should Microsoft be worried?" And the answer is probably not, assuming Windows 7 is a significant improvement on Vista. It's due this year, so will have a whole year's start on Chrome OS, during which it will seep into the public's consciousness, and no doubt be installed on billions of computers. Breaking into that market is going to be hard, as the average consumer tends to think of Windows first, and sometimes Macs second--a Google PC will sound somewhat alien. Similarly, it'll be difficult for Google to tackle what you could call the serious PC market, as its OS will be a complete unknown. But the battle is on.
[via Googleblog]
Related Stories:
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Google Releases Web Browser
Related Stories: | Topics:Innovation, Technology, Google OS, chrome, Chrome operating system, google, computers, microsoft, apple, linux, Netbooks, computing, OS, Google Chrome, Google Inc., Software, Technology, Science and Technology |
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Recent Comments | 11 Total
July 8, 2009 at 8:16am by Hamel Kothari
This actually isn't that suprising, they've done it before, it was just a complete and utter flop. [via http://digg.com/d1w35r]
July 8, 2009 at 8:57am by Ralf Lippold
Let's see how it will start off disrupting the stable field of Microsoft, all big companies around the world are running their internal pc operations on Windows (mostly).
Change will be possible, as Windows really nobody like when it comes to performance.
Allt the best
Ralf
July 8, 2009 at 9:03am by Demetri Pavlides
Google has my respect in coming out with a bold statement, however, in my humble opinion, it is somewhat divergent from their core business. Google's search has been the leader in the search market and it has stayed there 'coz it's simple, intuitive and quite frankly brilliant tool. I do not believe that it will scare the likes of Microsoft or Apple, but I also don't believe that it is Google's intent to take them head on. It's gonna be an interesting year :)
July 8, 2009 at 9:18am by Kit Eaton
@Ralf. Yup--if Google can make the user experience a "pleasant" one, then it may well attract devotees. However, Apple's been doing precisely that for years, and only recent begun to gain real market share.
@Demetri. There's a whole slew of non-search Google extras to think about--starting with Android, and going through things like its City Guides, Maps, GMail and the newly interesting Google Voice. Chrome OS is just the next step. And yes--2009-2010 is going to be very interesting!
July 8, 2009 at 10:47am by Cliff Jenkins
Yes it's been done before but now Google is legitimizing itself with cloud computing which is still managing to seep into the public conscious. However, I think that from a corporate structure standpoint and from a concerned end-user, the issue of data privacy is still important. There's nothing like storing information on your own machine and knowing that that is the only place it is.
July 8, 2009 at 1:55pm by Brent Wood
We should have all seen this coming. But how will it make things easier? Will it make, say my trip to addanything.com, any easier or better than when I visit that site with Vista? I just don't really get it.
July 8, 2009 at 2:19pm by Paul Fountaine
Personally I think this is fantastic news. Google has a global brand with a positive image. They provide a vast array of "products" free to the consumer / user. They figured out the core of how people work, how to provide relevant information, creating a brand that has eclipsed Apple and Microsoft.
That Apple has a great operating system is lost on most, as most cannot afford a $,000-$4,000 laptop or $1500+ home computer. My guess is Google is going to hang with the low or no cost model, which will attract millions, no, globally billions of users.
Rock on Google - you deserve your success!
July 8, 2009 at 2:19pm by Paul Fountaine
Personally I think this is fantastic news. Google has a global brand with a positive image. They provide a vast array of "products" free to the consumer / user. They figured out the core of how people work, how to provide relevant information, creating a brand that has eclipsed Apple and Microsoft.
That Apple has a great operating system is lost on most, as most cannot afford a $,000-$4,000 laptop or $1500+ home computer. My guess is Google is going to hang with the low or no cost model, which will attract millions, no, globally billions of users.
Rock on Google - you deserve your success!
July 9, 2009 at 1:43am by Demetri Pavlides
@Kit. You're right, they do have loads of other things, what I was saying is that Google-as very rightly Paul says - is a "positive image" brand, a moniker which has been earned by being the best search engine and of course direct spin offs such as the briliant Adwords, tools that enable business people to create, mold and reshape entire online campaigns based on their tools.
Recap- I am not condoning the OS or Android or Google Earth (another search direct spin off btw) - all I'm saying is that if I want to eat pizza, I'll go to a pizza place, not a sushi place :)
July 9, 2009 at 2:07am by Arielle M
Computers truly need to get better. People want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. The Google operating system is being released as a competitor to Windows 7, and the Google OS, or Chrome OS, bears the same name as the internet browser they released last year, and best of all will be free. The big news on the software front these days is about the Google operating system that is beginning to debut. It is set to begin debuting on netbooks, and its primary focus is online applications. Press for it has said that they geared it to plug the gaps in internet security of most OS packages. It's good to know that you can get the Google operating system without needing much money and the unending amount of registration that comes with Microsoft products.
July 9, 2009 at 5:30am by Kit Eaton
@Demetri. Perfectly put! :)
@Paul. It's going to be fascinating to see how this plays out indeed. Don't forget the Mac mini! I too suspect Google will go for the free/low cost model for the OS--which will be good, as long as there's nothing like embedded advertising!!