9 months ago Google published their new browser, Google Chrome which was supposed to be a minimalist browser that was very quick. It was great competition in the browser market, and it was a great way to crawl up Microsoft’s skin. They now have 30 million people regularly using Google Chrome, which is a pretty good number after 9 months. On the 7th of July Google introduced their newest item from their labs, the Google Chrome Operating System. Just like it’s browser counterpart, it is an open source, lightweight operating system which is directed towards netbooks. It focuses on speed, simplicity and security with the design to be kept minimal.
The new OS is essentially Google chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. All applications are run from the web, and run Windows, Linux and Mac OSX as well. Android, an operating system project also run by Google, is similar to this. However, Google has said it is primarily used from cell phones and PDA devices. This is an entirely new project from Google, for people who use the web a great deal and do not want to meddle with a computer to boot first and then the browser.
The new Chrome OS has not gone unnoticed, with Microsofts Steve Balmer taunting his competition like usual. In an interview with CNET he comments, “I don’t know if they can’t make up their mind or what the problem is over there. The last time I checked you don’t need two client operating systems.” Bill Gates has also put in his two-cents, “There’s many, many forms of Linux operating systems out there and packaged in different ways and booted in different ways. In some ways I am surprised people are acting like there’s something new” Bill Gates brings up good points, also saying that they have provided little information on the working of the OS.
Many have seen this as a direct attack at Microsoft, creating a new operating system to counter Windows XP in the netbook market. There certainly is a demand for this type of operating system, and it certainly would work great for tablets or netbook users who only need the internet, but it does not seem like a challenge for a full OS like Windows XP. Google always has a few tricks up its sleeves, so we just need to wait to hear more about this. There certainly is a niche for this, the only question is whether its big enough to keep the OS floating on top of the water or if it will sink down with Netscape.
