Well now, this is interesting. Google is developing a computer operating system.
Microsoft trounced all the rival PC operating systems and grabbed the lead back in the '80s. And currently, there is only one real rival, the open sourced Linux. Linux has a small but loyal following, and it just might get bigger since the Google OS is going to be based on Linux. Their initial focus is on netbook computers, and here's what the Official Google Blog says:
Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.
Via Marketwatch.com.
The way they describe it it should be a nice OS for web use, but it's not so clear whether it would be much use for those of us who still use old fashioned word processing, photo editing and other software planted firmly in our PCs.
Further, Google probably already has enough stored information to compile a dossier on each and every one of us, and the Google Chrome browser together with the Google Chrome OS may just make Google closer than a family member. How good Google will be in the future with the history of our personal computer usage is anybody's guess.
I agree. Most software available for purchase or for free downloading is compatible with Windows but very little is Mac compatible. Seems that Google will have the same considerable obstacle to overcome if it really wants to unseat MS.
Posted by: Redman | July 09, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Redman, I've got a desktop computer and a netbook, and both run Windows XP. I'm not inclined to upgrade the OS because every time I've done it in the past I've had to give up something.
When others experiment with the Google OS hopefully we can get some feedback on what it can and can't do.
Posted by: Geo | July 09, 2009 at 03:08 PM