Microsoft rivalry with Google has just got bigger with the news of Google Chrome OS. The search giant Google is ready to take on Microsoft (again) with its new operating system. The company showed off its Google Chrome OS, saying that the lower-end PCs which will be included in Netbooks in the second half of 2010.
In the past few years we have witnessed a steadily escalating high-stakes war between the two technology giants, as Google’s dominance of the Internet’s lucrative search market has given it the means to threaten Microsoft in ways that few other companies can.
Google has already hurt Microsoft by luring away some of its top employees and developing an online suite of computer programs that provide an alternative to Microsoft’s top-selling word processing, spreadsheet and calendar applications. With Chrome OS, Google attempts to kiss goodbye Microsoft Corporation’s long-running control over people’s desktop.
Here’s looking further into the all-new Google OS.
- Google Chrome OS is a lightweight, open source operating system that will be available on Netbooks initially. Google announced that the open-sourcing code of Chrome OS is free, accessible to anyone and open for contributions (Which mean more security threats).
- Google said just like Android Smartphone software, it is giving away the software for free with the idea that improving the Web experience will ultimately benefit its Internet search advertising business, which generated roughly $22 billion in revenue in 2008.
Also, Google is not asking Netbook makers for any share in the revenue.
- Google-crafted Chrome OS will be tailored exclusively for applications hosted as services in the Internet “cloud.” This means that every application on Chrome OS will be a Web application. This according to Google will improve speed and security, as users won’t be installing applications to their systems.
According to Google all data in Chrome will automatically be hosted in the cloud, or on external servers, but also cached on the computer’s internal hardware to boost performance. This means users won’t lose their data in case their Netbook is stolen or its hard disk gets crashed.
- Chrome OS will run on either x86 or ARM processors. But hardware manufacturers will have to use solid-state drives as Google OS won’t support hard drives.
- Google hinted that users could expect Chrome OS Netbooks to have slightly larger keyboards and screens than the existing models. The company has tied up with a few Netbook manufacturers including HP, Acer and Asus.
- Chrome OS can pull data from devices such as digital cameras and will support printing. In its presentation to the media, Google showed how users can store favorite applications, like Google’s Gmail service, as fixed tabs in the browser and watch videos and listen to music within panels that scroll up from the bottom of the screen.
- Google Chrome OS will work on three simple laws — Speed, Simplicity and Security. According to Google, Chrome OS-based Netbooks will be able to boot in 7 seconds, and run Web apps within another 3 seconds, unlike most other Operating Systems which take 45 seconds on an average to boot up.
- The user interface is minimal and most of the user experience takes place on the Web. Just like Chrome browser, Google is completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. According to Google users Chrome OS will automatically keep software up to date and secure.
- Chrome OS resembles a Web browser than the traditional looking computer OS like Microsoft Windows. But analysts feel that the differences between conventional PCs and Chrome OS netbooks might give consumers jitters.
- Chrome OS lacks compatibility with traditional software and has limited offline capabilities. Another limitation is Google won’t support hard drives so users will have to buy Chrome OS-based Netbooks.
Though Google promises to explore offline capabilities and support some offline storage, however, this seems to be a distant dream. According to Gartner analyst Ray Valdes, if users view it from the conventional perspective, then it falls short.
If you thought that Chrome OS and Android are part of the same project, you got it wrong. Android was designed to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to Netbooks, while Chrome OS is designed specifically to power computers ranging from Netbooks to full-size desktop systems. However, both do overlap on certain areas. Google Chrome OS will be available by the end 2010 on Netbooks. What are your opinions on the new upcoming Google Chrome OS?
