‘Google Chrome Operating System’ Announced

Although they have very different backgrounds and histories, Google and Microsoft are in many ways very similar – they both work within similar fields, they are both massive companies and they both have a massive lead over their competitors with their principle product. However Google are hoping to tip the scales with their attempt to challenge Microsoft’s O/S domination.

After the ‘success’ of Google Chrome which now boasts around 30 million users their new venture has been imaginatively labelled the Google Chrome Operating System and will, according to Google, make you “re-think what operating systems should be”.

You may be forgiven for thinking this is a little odd: Google already have an operating system of sorts in the shape of Android which has already developed from phones to netbook, why can’t they just build on this and make a laptop/desktop version based on this?

The fact that it is going to be targeted at netbooks to begin makes this train of thought even more valid, but when you consider that they ultimately hope to contend with Microsoft they will need a product that has been designed right from the start to deal with more advanced systems than just mobile phones – imagine if Windows had started from the Windows Mobile versions?

There are very few actual hard facts within the press release, probably due to the fact that at this stage of development there isn’t that much to share – but what we do know is the general ethos that Google will hope to follow when developing this O/S.

The three main words that should sum up the whole system will be speed, simplicity and security – the three s’ if you will. By making it quick Google aim to get people up and running as soon as possible (good for those quickly logging on to check emails etc), easy to use and minimal so that it does not impair what you are trying to do (although whether this ultimately means it will suffer from lack of features is a different matter) and security.

The latter is one that is becoming increasingly important, and something that Microsoft have often been criticised for not paying enough attention to (especially with Vista). Google hope to solve this by:

“…going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.”

Easier to say than do, but if they are ultimately successful I’m sure it will immediately raise its appeal with the millions of people in the world with vital files on their PC. Another crowd that they hope to please is the open source community as, like Android, the Google Chrome OS will be open source.

So will it actually be successful? Well they have a big task ahead of them and it won’t be easy to make an impact on the global power of Microsoft and their well received Windows 7 O/S, but if anyone can Google can; and if they can do all of these things (which they promise they will) then we are in for a treat:

“People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don’t want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. “

We can only wait and see!

Via – Google Blog

Related Pages:

1. Google Chrome Operating System Demo – Will It Be Any Good?
2. Google Chrome TV Advert
3. Google Chrome OS Tablet Concept? (Rumour)
4. Google Chrome 2 Released
5. Google Chrome Browser (Internet Explorer Alternative)

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