Google Unveils Operating System
Google last week enveiled plans to release its long expected Operating System (OS), named "Google Chrome OS". Operating Systems are the base program that enables other programs to run on a computer. Chrome OS is intended to be a lightweight, quick starting system; Google intends its key aspects to be "...speed, simplicity and security."Chrome OS will be open source, mesaning anyone can access and potentially alter its source code. The idea behind making its OS open source is that it makes it potentially universal, and much more accessible. There is also the matter of the price - Google intends to pitch its OS at a much lower price than the current dominant OS (Windows) - free.
Google says that it initially intends to distribute its OS on netbooks (small, lightwight laptops) that are currently in vogue. The netbook manufacturer names Google has on board is impressive - Hewlett Packard, Toshiba and Acer. Google is going to need the support of major manufacturers such as these if it is going to stand a chance of eating into Microsoft's massive OS market share.
The main principle behind Chrome OS is "cloud computing", where all computing activity - word processing, spreadsheets, email, Facebook - takes place on the web, rather than on invidual PC's. The idea is that as computing moves from the PC to the web, security, speed, price and convenience will be improved, making the computing experience a better one.
Google sees Windows as slow, unwieldy and out of date. For example, it intends its OS to boot up in seconds, rather than the minutes it takes XP or Vista to load.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer responded to the announcement this week by saying that Windows, rather than a browser centric approach was the right one, citing the fact that half of PC use today is spent outside of the browser. "We don't need a new operating system," Ballmer said Tuesday, as part of his keynote at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans. "What we do need to do is to continue to evolve Windows, Windows Applications, IE (Internet Explorer), the way IE works in totality with Windows and how we build applications like Office...and we need to make sure we can bring our customers and partners with us."
Google is obviously trying to push cloud computing to the fore, as that is where they make their money, from people browsing the web (Adsense) and searching (Adwords). Microsoft's entire business model is built on PC-based non-cloud software; for them to change tack and compete with Google would be very hard. So if Google can gain traction initially in the netbook market, and build market share from there, the software market could be their's for the taking.
I think if Google were to wrestle the OS and office application (with their Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets apps) market leader position they would definitley come under scrutinty from the US government for breaking monopoly laws, just as Microsoft did in the 90's. Google have to be careful that they don't set their ambitions too high, and become too big.
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