It’s hard to type a blog post when one hand is being used to pat myself on the back.
Last year I wrote a post about the just launched Chrome browser titled Meet Chrome, Google’s Windows Killer. From that article:
Chrome is nothing less than a full on desktop operating system that will compete head on with Windows…Expect to see millions of web devices, even desktop web devices, in the coming years that completely strip out the Windows layer and use the browser as the only operating system the user needs.
One representative response to my quote above, from The Register: “In no way can this statement be construed to make sense, and I’m not just being a pedantic asshole here. Fortunately, El Reg readers are with it enough to know that you need a proper OS before you can have a browser.”
Purists complained that a browser isn’t actually an operating system, and brought up mundane issues about hardware drivers, memory and processor management, and other red herrings. Sure, they were right – the Chrome browser isn’t an operating system. It is, you could say, sans the bag of drivers needed to meet the definition. Still, the writing was on the wall – Google quite clearly saw Chrome as an operating system that competes with Windows.
Fast forward to today. The Chrome browser now has 30 million active users, says Google, and tracking services say it has 6% or so market share. Not bad for a browser that’s less than a year old.
And now, WOW. Google just bolted a big ol’ bag of drivers (also known as the Linux kernel) to Chrome and are calling it the Google Chrome Operating System. It’s going to be hard for people to continue to deny its operating systemness now.
The new OS will focus entirely on the web: “The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform.” What that means is this. The browser is the platform. The browser is the UI.
Now, finally, even the tech purists can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Windows is hardware management plus an application platform, and we call that an OS. Chrome OS is hardware management plus an application platform (the browser), and we call that an OS, too.
Don’t worry about those desktop apps you think you need. Office? Meh. You’ve got Zoho and Google Apps. You won’t miss office. Chrome plus Gears plus Google Wave plus HTML 5 and web platforms like Flash and Silverlight all combine into a single wonderful computing device. The Internet Is Everything. All the OS has to do is boot the damn computer, get me to a browser as fast as possible and then stay the hell out of the way.
Chrome will do just that. And it will be free, unlike Windows. Forget the netbooks, which Google is targeting initally. We’ll see PCs of all types being sold by the major manufacturers as soon as Google gets this out of beta next year. Microsoft has a very serious competitive threat to the core of their revenues. Every Chrome computer bought won’t have Windows and won’t have Office. That must send chills down the spine of the guys up in Redmond. But hey, at least they can now point to Google when the antitrust guys come knocking. Someone other than them are bundling the operating system and browser into one neat package.
Perfect. Now we can all surf the web. Just like Windows XP.
I love google, but i agree.
unless we’ll see some monster SDK that lets u put desktop icons for web applications and make them feel like apps, and a shared database for user information and stuff like that (can be great for 1 sign-in for all sites)
I think it’s just like android, cool, but just unneeded (yes, i got android, yes, i developed for it..) .
All of the above is going to happen. Some of that even happens in Chrome the browser, but identity standards and technologies are getting to the point where we will actually have a central point for information that we can use with any number of web apps.
The Microsoft monopoly on the OS was bad enough.
What’s coming now is MUCH worse:
1 company aiming to be able to track everyone. (For the sake of more precise personality profiles, which are supposed to generate more ad $$$.)
What about your privacy? WHAT privacy.
Microsoft does not have a monopoly on the OS. You can buy Mac OS, multiple flavors of Linux, Unix, etc. If you don’t like Windows USE SOMETHING ELSE!!
There are other options, OSX being the most notable but looks like W7 will really be impressive from all I have read and seen about it so far, it’s good competition comes into the netbook category.
Jon
I agree; it’s actually scary. Privacy and user control over who has access to your data is extremely important.
The game isn’t over: it’s possible to still have this web-based model (perhaps even using Chrome OS!) without sacrificing privacy.
I agree that it is a little unsettling at times w/ the power that Google holds, but the difference between the antitrust issues w/ Microsoft and Google is that Microsoft was essentially forcing people to use it. With Google, people are CHOOSING to use it over, say Ask Jeeves…because well Google is the utilitarian of search engines.
The way I see it, I love to support mom and pop restaurants, etc. because their food is good and I’d like to keep them in business. I don’t want to support the underdog search engine because say I type in “large kitchen pantry” (I happen to be looking for one now) and it pulls results for refrigerators and dog beds, well I’m just not going to use it, so I choose Google…It’s a bit of a situation because as consumers of search engines, we personally want the best for ourselves, and in doing so assist in the creation of this large empire.
Good comments…it’s interesting to hear both sides because there are definitely valid points both ways.
um….remind me. What’s privacy again? Most 25 yr olds and under haven’t a clue. In 20 years, that’ll be ‘most 45 yr olds don’t have a clue’. If you’d be 45 and without a clue, I’d be afraid for you, very afraid.
…although I prefer the ‘deer in the headlights’ look. It’s very fashionable this last decade or two. I do propose, however, that the animal be replaced by a sheep.
Baaa
Right.. trust the cloud.. trust Google.. ppl must be out of there minds! http://iqmz.com/9y7sdk I’m with you Google OS? Meh!!
c’mon people. Privacy is dead, and has been for years. Every time you IM someone, e-mail, put a pic on Facebook/MySpace/LinkedIn/Loopt/Flickr, every video you watch on YouTube, or Google/Yahoo search you do is logged on a server somewhere. It can be accessed by anyone who knows how to do it, and we’re not talking hackers, we’re talking regular people with a search engine. Browser history is out there, financial history is out there. Credit history is out there. If you want privacy, don’t use a computer. Or a cell phone. Or leave your house.
Privacy? What are you trying to hide?
I gave up on privacy a while ago because I realized that it wasn’t providing me with any benefits. Security is a different matter, and should not be confused with privacy.
The more transparent society is, the better and healthier it will be. We just have to get through the adjustment period. Transparency is not just top down, Big Brother style. It goes both ways.
Privacy is overrated. People who worry so much about privacy read too much dystopian science-fiction or live under a dictatorship.
hm… privacy never dies, it is a threat indeed
http://blog.ner...at-to-security/
Oh, there’s where Wave fits in. Now I get it.
Web apps wont flourish untill we can save html on harddisk. You can see how Adobe AIR platform overtook web browsers for apps.
The day we can save gmail.html and gdocs.html on our hard-disk, web apps wont go anywhere.
That Google Gears
Dont say big words like Gears and Wave. So called wave being nothing but fb messaging between 3 or more – with thumbnail pics of course.
Being simple is important, browser should store html including all js files inside single html file within script tags.
I am not sure if Google will keep on carrying Gears once HTML 5 gains widespread acceptance. It will take some time, though.
Ummm… save as html but your idea is flawed. I think I see what you are getting at – storing web apps on your computer but first of all… what would be the point? The apps will have to communicate with the designer’s server anyway which still requires an internet connection. And updates wouldn’t be pushed out immediately like today’s web allows. You are completely missing the point of the internet.
And another thing… Combining everything in one file would be impossible to maintain. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a bug in a html file with only 1200 lines of code? Throw everything together and you’d have millions (literally) of lines. Combining everything into one would also break javascript frameworks such as script.aculo.us or jQuery. And what about images, audio and video?
You already can place icons on the desktop in Chrome – and they work like applications and work great. I do this for Gmail and Reader already.
Yes, and you can do this with Firefox 3.0 as well. From the Tools menu, select “Convert Website to Application…” You can use the defaults in the dialog that pops up. Puts an icon on your desktop and everything. you can do it with ANY Website. I’ve tried it with a few, simple Web sites and it appears to work quite well. The technology is called Mozilla PRISM. Your milage may vary.
We did our testing with privacy at AAfter Search. People seems to care not that much. People care for better search results.
No company has failed so far because they have a bad privacy statement. Am I wrong?
actually OpenID is taking care of universal login type stuff as we speak and Google Chrome already has a “Create Application Shortcut” function that lets you create a desktop icon for your webapp. So essentially all that technology already exists, they just need to bundle it.
Without the Windows.
comcast is down for 5 hours now in my area. and miami is not exactly a third world country.
no problem, i’ll continue working on this spreadsheet due tomorrow.
wait, my OS is Google Chrome… i’m screwed!
Hey dude! Learn about Google Gears and HTML 5 Offline.
ah la facebook: “Likes this”
“miami is not exactly a third world country.”
As a resident of Palm Beach County, I’d have to disagree.
comcast is down for 5 hours now in my area. and miami is not exactly a third world country.
no problem, i’ll continue working on this spreadsheet due tomorrow.
wait, my OS is Google Chrome… i’m screwed!
opera seems to post twice.
Opera users double click submit buttons.
That’s kind of the point of HTML5 and Google Docs already lets you edit spreadsheets, presentations and docs when you have no internet access.
I’d suspect that Google will build a series or suite of browser-based apps to do common OS tasks, e.g. set system time, burn DVDs, etc, etc. That would probably mean web-based libraries to access the underlying OS and that would work in their favour to foster development around the platform.
I do wonder how I’ll sync my iPod through the browser. That’s got to be a major switching factor for millions of people + love it or loath it, I’d probably miss SOME bits of iTunes (and I’m guessing Apple will be playing hard-ball with Google on this too).
To think that Google doesn’t have a plan, the resources or the expertise to resolve all of these issues is ridiculous.
Yeah the ChromeOs is basically Palms WebOs for the desktop. If they take the same route then you access system libraries and functions through javascript. That means that you have to write seperate *apps* for the ChromeOs but then that is okay because you will only do that to access special functions.
Ok… So there are a whole bunch of productivity apps available on the Web that let you work offline. However, what about the rest of the apps in the world. Who’s writing apps for the new OS? And, if the Internet is everything, as mentioned in this article, what use is my computer when the intenet is down?
I don’t know about everyone else, but I spend a whole bunch of my time NOT using the internet when I’m on my computer.
Don´t forget the Google Native Client !
Google Chrome OS will consist of the OS + Google Chrome with the Google Native Client + Gears + Wave and all the other Google Web Apps.
The Native Client does also work on MacOSX, Linux and Windows and connects the browser with the underlying OS and the Hardware (for example it can use graphic accelleration)
I thought the whole point of stuff like Chrome OS was to move away from the underlying OS stuff and interact mainly with the browser! Exposing too much of the core system API within the browser sounds like too much of a vulnerability for me, and it would have to be handled VERY carefully to avoid a repeat of the ActiveX/older IE/svchost mess…
If only Google had the forethought to have invented some mechanism to allow you to work offline, and automatically synchronize your offline changes back upstream to the server after you reconnect to the internet.
http://gears.google.com/
You can do it. It is called Live Mesh and it’s from Microsoft.
You already can work offline with Gmail, Docs and Reader.
@M2CDO and @Jarrod, well done on completely missing the point – the clue, in case you’re wondering, was that Barry had the link to Google Gears right there in his post.
you might wish to enlighten yourself on gears…
Fear not! HTML 5 will include offline support.
http://www.w3.o...ffline-webapps/
No, if you actually knew what you were talking about, you would realize that you are not screwed. Google Chrome already allows you to select Gmail from the start menu, and run it with zero internet connection. I use it all the time on my laptop when I am in airports with overpriced WiFI. It works like Outlook, but without all the bloat, right in my browser. They can do this with spreadsheets, docs, anything. If morons like you would actually research the technology, you would understand this. It’s like some guy yelling in 1978 : “How is my terminal going to work if its in my house and there is no mainframe there? I’m screwed!”
Oh…that’s funny!
lmao. exactly. I’m surprised Google’s offline strategy is not more widely known
Goodbye Windows. Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out.
The question I have for you Mike is will you bolt Google’s new OS underneath your own OS that you’re developing for the CrunchPad? We are discussing that here: http://friendfe...ll-need-to-make
Scoble let me explain tech to you..
CrunchPad uses a Linux Kernel and Browser with probalby an x86 CPU..
So its simply a matter of putting Chrome OS in CrucnhPad to replace the Debian/FF setup already on CrunchPad..
There is no bolting of Chrome OS under another OS you damn effing high tech simpleton!
Jesus effing christ that is as bad as the being taken in that rumour of MS buying Mahalo.com..
You remember that Bobby Scobbie?
Fred,
CrunchPad OS has many functions for touch and input with an optical keypad, etc. Those sit on top of an OS. What we both said is not mutually exclusive. Why you need to be an arrogant ass, I don’t know.
CrunchPad OS will sit on top of something, either Debian, or Google’s OS. Thanks for playing the game.
Scoble, this is Chris (that sued Microsoft). You should sell your RAX shares right now, and buy back at a lower price.
OK, with that out of the way, there is no way Mike or the people that work on Crunch pad can answer you because they have not used Google Chrome OS yet.
But you knew that before you asked. So why did you ask?
They’re all bloggers, the lot of them.
Bolting an OS under an OS?
Scoble isn’t very smart.
What is an OS? When I worked at Microsoft they showed an OS as being layers. UI is top layer. Kernel and Drivers being bottom layer. Both are considered OS. Pedantic OS arrogance is worse than any of my many sins.
just shake those *haters* off scoble & keep up the good work
most tech people are myopic. don’t get any single detail wrong or you’ll lose them forever.
Uh, so when you wrote “OS” you really meant to write “middleware”?
Fat-necked ignorance is not a virtue.
Robert Scoble is wrong here and Michael Arrington is being a nitwit as well. What we are describing is an OS with a web browser here not a full fledged OS. Please stop the ignorance people.
@Scoble. That was my first idea too. Makes sense, but I don’t know whether the timescales will fit.
@Fred. A good way to tell that something is hard is when the proposer uses the word “simply”. Crunchpad is supposed to be as easy to use as a Mac, or an old-time Spectrum or PCW, so users *must* not have to do Linux installs.
But can you run skype on chromeos
yes, there is skype for linux, I use one with Ubuntu
I have the same question. It doesn’t seem like the linux version will work because linux is not the platform. “For application developers, the web is the platform.”
I guess Skype will need to release a web-based app or if Google Voice will incorporate skypeout/skypein functionality it can replace Skype completely.
It seems completely reasonable that Google will provide Chrome as a browser as well as a base OS. Bolting isn’t quite the issue. A larger package of Chrome, Gears, etc. will accomplish the same thing as the Chrome OS.
Workstations such as the Mac and Windows machines are not going away, I need them as do plenty of others, but a full OS really isn’t always necessary. The CrunchPad will fill a specific need. My bet is actually that we see the mobile OSes pick up power as Moore’s law affects the pocket devices. They will also pick up most of the market. My iPhone will be as powerful as my Air in a couple of years.
I’d never use this outside MAYBE a netbook. Remember how well Apple’s iphone browser based apps went?
I am sorry I don’t want to step backwards and not have full control over everything I want to do on my PC. How am I meant to burn a dvd? edit large videos? edit photos? I am sorry the internet isn’t ready, and even if it were it’d still suck.
I reserve total judgment until we see implementation, but I think I’ll be sticking with windows.
Yes, because I’m sure the people who built the best search engine in the world, built applications that let you zoom in and count how many potholes are in your driveway, and designed a suite of applications that work in the browser whether you are online or offline couldn’t figure out how to do things that the Linux kernel already does.
I’m going to do you a favor and reserve total judgement on your intellectual capabilities, especially since the phrase “I’ll be sticking with windows” saves me the time.
Well said. And since Steven above is “sticking with windows”, we all know where he can stick it.
I LOVE FIREFOX .also Google too .
Hurray for you.
It is a shame we won’t see a decent rationale story like this one from ZDnet on TechCrucnh about the Google hyperbole – http://blogs.zd...Howlett/?p=1065
“I can go on and on and on and on…..”
Please don’t. Go back to listening to your broken down zune and yelling FAIL at your AOL buddies.
So let me get this straight, Zune has more market share in the MP3 market than Apple Mac OSx has in the desktop market and Zune is a failure and Mac OSx is a success?
Google Docs has around 0.5% (NPR) and Office has 97% of productivity apps and Google Docs is called by people like Dave and Arrington a huge success!
Wow, no wonder people like Dave should be committed, their logic is flawless……..
Can’t wait for the launch of this OS to see how Microsoft reacts!
But but but you’re wrong! The Internet Guys! Google Chrome is going to revolutionize it! INTERNET!
George Carlin once pondered about people who catch bullets in their teeth. Specifically, he wondered how they would learn such a trick. He proposed that they would start with a friend just tossing a bullet toward them. Once they learned this step, the friend would put the bullet in a gun, take aim and say, “OK, this one is going to come a little faster.”
It doesn’t seem too difficult to put chrome on a netbook, and tell people it’s just for surfing the web. Netbooks are not really meant for large, powerful applications anyway. But going from a simple OS that lets you surf the web, to a fully functional OS, ready to run power programs, is a huge leap. While I would love to see a Chrome OS succeed, I hope their team knows that when they move from a simple web OS to a power-user OS, things will be coming at them “a little bit faster.”
It is also hard to think while writing blog post if you have one hand in you pants.
TC folks need a vacation referesher. They are in this illusion that whatever Google does is killer.
TC made big sensational headlines when Android came and when Google Wave arrived.
Where is Google Wave?Tell me, where is Android? Did it kill facebook? If I sue TC and win a dollar for every wrong prediction TC made, I will be a billionaire soon.
Wake up.Don’t be too dramatic and confuse the kids who frequent here trying to learn the stuff.
I can definitely wait for the new Google OS. I got out of Windows once. Became a full-time Linux user. And went back. Because of the software I needed for work.
We have enough operating systems already. And software bugs are plentiful enough with companies trying to port all their software to *NIX, *doze and *tosh. Add *oogle to the mix, and you’ve got more thinned out talent pools in the programming world, trying to write with each other, while they fight over whose computer has the best OS.
What Google should invent is a button people can push, that slows down Google when they (read: I) get sick of Google being the new Microsoft and trying to put everyone else out of business. I need that much more than I need a new OS.
wow this is much better than twitter news
Oh my gawd, this is not a twitter related post!
well, twitter will clearly work on the Chrome Browser, running on the Chrome OS. I wonder if I’ll be able to run Twitter clients via Adobe Air…
lol!!
But seriously Mikie, Let us make this deal..For any non Twitter news, each reader will click 3 ads? Deal?
TC follows a CPM model. So clicks mean nuffin at all
I doubt it, but html5 apps should be just as good.
Michael – you’ve just nailed the problem with “Google OS”.
When the browser IS the OS, isn’t the answer to “I wonder if it will run…?” invariably be “No”?
The web is obviously a very powerful platform, but are people going to choose the stripped down proprietary version of Linux, or the full version that allows them to run their favourite IM client?
Also, I don’t think you’ve mentioned, but we’ve already been here before – with the original iPhone and Apple’s vision for “web apps”. People didn’t want them and Apple was forced to open up the rest of the OS to developers.
Your predictions were spot on, but I’m not convinced it’s something people will want to actually use.
I would say Chrome OS is a competitor to Adobe Air. Chrome OS will have something similar to Mozilla’s Prism labs project. You can write any Adobe Air app with HTML 5 + Gears + AJAX and it would be standard compliant and run cross platform. The general web has already caught up with everything that Adobe Air can do and instead of being a virtual machine on a slow OS, Chrome OS will be the native platform, making it faster.
Will Adobe Air run on Chrome OS? probably not, because it doesn’t need to.
Well, no because Adobe AIR has file system access and doesn’t require an internet connection. Say you want to edit a 2GB video file. Are you going to upload it to a service on the web and edit it there? That’s going to take a while. If AJAX can already do everything that Flash/Flex/AIR can do, why are people still writing RIAs in Flash/Flex/AIR? The answer is that it can’t and for those trivial things that it can do, it takes twice as long to develop it in Javascript.
“Don’t worry about those desktop apps you think you need. Office? Meh. You’ve got Zoho and Google Apps. You won’t miss office. Chrome plus Gears plus Google Wave plus HTML 5 and web platforms like Flash and Silverlight all combine into a single wonderful computing device. ”
Oh, but if Adobe AIR doesn’t work…
I do think this is huge. See the talk I recently gave on the user-centered web for where things are going broadly; Google’s managed to provide a device platform that makes the ideas the web application community has been evangelizing for years much more real and vital.
Out of interest, Mike, how does this affect your CrunchPad plans, if at all?
Here is a cartoon that was done, I presume, to effect a humorous play on how Google Chrome got its logo, but today, it has added significance:
http://1.bp.blo...chrome-logo.jpg
So add in Wave, which is clearly part of the same Master Plan.
What’s the goal?
Cloud domination ?
Google Docs takes on Office.
Google Wave takes on Sharepoint.
The goal, I think, is to dominate the new model for computing, where we access our apps and our data from anywhere, using the device that makes sense for us at the time. The web is the perfect platform for this, and Google are all over the business model.
I mean seriously you people just don’t get the REAL world and neither does Arrington
Less than 0.5% of people in the USA are using cloud based productivity apps like Google docs. And in hundreds of other countries it’s almost zero.
Oh, and what about Chrome? Less than 6% market share.
And now you are all having orgasms over a Linux Distro + a web browser and you have the audacity to say it will (nuclear) bomb Windows!!! ha ha
I would love someone to do a running count of all the doom and gloom statements made between the year 2000 and now and all the hyperbole statements made around cloud computing, apps, open source, Linux, blah, blah, blah.
And what has happened to Wave in the mainstream real world? Zero, nadda, nothing.
You people live in an alternate universe which in no way reflects the real world majority and the statements and claims you are making (like Google OS nuclear bombing Windows) are just plain stupid.
+1.
These stats are something fanboys need to address.
With Chrome, Wave, OS et al Google is fighting everyone on every front. We’ll see just how big the GoogleBorg is with all these nascent apps underway.
Google has still only ever won one battle decisively – search.
I think Chrome is the best browser but there are tons of web users who either don’t give a shit or they don’t have rights to install anything else. M$ kicks Google’s ass in the office. For this OS thing to be a success they’re gonna have to announce some pretty big deals with a few hardware co’s. For a lot of users choice in today’s internet stack is still nothing more than what site they’re going to visit.
Android still hasn’t caught on – there are other superstars out there. I don’t think this will be a success.
Paradigm shifts often solicit comments like @M2CDO’s.
Galileo
Darwin
Model-T
Nuclear Energy
DNA
Personal Computer
Web OS
Yep, right on the money. I’m sure Microsoft has reason to be worried for the future, but chrome/gmail/apps/docs/twitter + the next big bubble isn’t a normal computer usage experience for everyone. There’s a lot of very ordinary folk doing very ordinary stuff as well as very ambitious people doing stuff that needs computing power that these cloud “utility tools” just can’t provide.
Oh, and let’s not forget people who aren’t connected to the Internet 25 hours a day.
I mean seriously M2CDO, you couldn’t point to the real world given an iPhone with a built-in compass.
“hyperbole statements made around cloud computing, apps, open source, Linux, blah, blah, blah”
Apache webservers (open source) run half of all web servers on the internet… pretty much running on Linux. That’s double IIS and Windows.
http://news.net...ver_survey.html
And, um… Wave is a private beta right now. By definition it can’t have wide-spread adoption.
Why don’t you go astro-turf the cave you live in with more MS propaganda. Stop reporting on the REAL world if you don’t live in it.
Did I say anything around the iPhone? I own one moron so your comment = FAIL.
Let me see, in and around the year 2000 almost every Tech writer said .NET vs Java would never succeed and it would fail. WRONG.
Since the year 2000 I have heard that Linux and open source will be the death of BOTH Windows Server and Windows Desktop OS and therefore Microsoft. WRONG. Win Server has been growing year on year for past 3 years more than 30% and Linux share has gone backwards.
For past three to 5 years I have heard that Linux desktop distros would claw substantial marketshare from Windows. WRONG. Barely breaking 1% share.
I have heard bloggers and tech writers saying for the past 2 years that the iPhone will be the death of WinMo. WRONG. When Microsoft makes announcement soon about PINK, naysayers will crawl back into their holes.
We heard the same around Xbox. Microsoft got it right and was the only one to build in social networking to differentiate and set it up as a major global social network. And guess what? 59% of them pay and Facebook and Myspace are still trying to find a business model.
We heard everyone laugh at Bill Gates and Microsoft about a computer in every home and the convergence of the home TV, PC and gaming console. Xbox Live has streamed 13m videos through Netflix via Xbox. Xbox game attach rate is best in business.
Zune has 8-11% market share in USA but everyone has written if off. Marketplace is way better than iTunes. Zune HD will once again change the market and when Zune / Marketplace, Xbox Live and mobile come together with Live, let’s have this conversation again.
We have heard that Google Docs, Wave and Gears will be the death of Windows, Office and the ‘revolution’ of cloud computing will remove the necessity for client software and be the death of Microsoft. WRONG. Microsoft has got it right with their strategy of Software + Services and not just services in the cloud. Once Azure comes online and Office 2010 for Web we will still see it trounce Google Gears and Google Docs. I am using Microsoft Online Services (cloud services in combination with client software and I pay small monthly fee for Enterprise capability).
I can go on and on and on and on…..
Wow… M2CDO… how much does MS pay you to troll forums?
I’m not looking for a flame war, so I’ll back off the inflammatory commenting, right after I point out that you went ‘on and on and on’ so much that you forgot what you wrote.
“I own an iPhone…iPhone will be the death of WinMo… announcement of Pink (whatever the hell that is) naysayers will crawl back into their holes.”
So you admit you do live in a hole.
Inflammatory commenting over, I would just like to request that maybe you could provide some links to support the various statistics that you’ve thrown out. For example, the link that I provided clearly states that Apache continually sees an increase in web server market share, while IIS is losing substantial share due to the closing down of MS’ own online services.
No support = astro-turfing.
“Zune has 8-11% market share in USA but everyone has written if off.”
In other news…
“The Wall Street Journal predicts that “at its much faster rate of decline, the Zune player looks like it’s headed from low to no market share”.
http://tr.im/rtBL
“I have heard bloggers and tech writers saying for the past 2 years that the iPhone will be the death of WinMo. WRONG. When Microsoft makes announcement soon about PINK, naysayers will crawl back into their holes.”
Firstly, when do articles even bother mentioning MIcrosoft’s pitiful efforts when talking about the iPhone. It’s compared to Android, the Pre, Symbian, Blackberry etc. But Microsoft’s pokey little devices which try to shoehorn a Start Menu etc instead of just designing devices which are best for purpose. And now they may be trying to copy from Apple (yet again, no change there as usual) you think Microsoft should be praised for this? Billions of dollars floating around and they can’t innovate to save their lives.
Microsoft start your photocopiers.
“Did I say anything around the iPhone? I own one moron so your comment = FAIL.”
I do have one question though. Why are Microsoft employing an overexcited teenager to handle their PR?
+1
So Google announce an OS that will do less than existing open source OSes, which have failed in the NetBook market. And this is supposed to magically succeed?
Do you really *want* it to succeed? Does a client OS really need to be a Java Script execution engine? is that really the best way forward for the computer industry?
Perhaps an OS being essentially a Javascript engine is not the best for the computer industry, but the growth in Javascripts capabilities due to this research and production will surely change the web for the better.
+1
Microsoft said that it will be a combination of cloud and normal computer, and I agree totally
I think of another statistic. What percent of people use their computers just for the internet?
I think of my parents who just use their internet to getting their news, doing email, managing their bank account and watching videos. They don’t use Office or Google Docs.
They’re also part of the demographic that would prefer a much cheaper alternative to Windows.
Yes,
I can’t wait to upload all my business data onto the Google cloud and have all my employees watch ads all day long so that I can save $499 per employee.
Nothing is Free.
This was the worst thing Google could do. It will provide legal cover for Microsoft to now completely destroy Google.
A ruthless business empire vs. a bunch of inexperience PHD students…LOL.
Went Short GOOG and long MSFT today.
I think this will be interesting. A Cold War between internet superpowers…
Btw in no way are the engineers at Google inexperiance, yes they are inexperianced in the Desktop OS field, but hardware-wise they are running some incredible servers, and software-wise they revolutionized search, and maps was a major hit. Microsoft will probably kick Google’s ass on the OS front as Microsoft has been doing it for decades, but Google has some formidable firepower.
Eitherway i sense some amazing improvements all over the computing world now that theres competition to accelerate advancements.
>Not bad for a browser that’s less than a year old.
Pretty bad for any software that has a link on the Google home page
They do not even have extensions ready for their browser (I know they work on it)
great article and a great outlook – playing the ms wording
Seems like the same business model as Android: free OS to get more consumers on the web == more advertizing clicks and revenue. If the advertizing revenue dries up for some reason…wonder what will happen?
First it was Chrome vs Firefox, now its Chrome vs Ubuntu. Maybe they should stop re-inventing the wheel and focus on applications.
Classic business strategy – If you are losing a battle, redefine the battlefield where you have an advantage. For a decade, Google had no advantage or reason to fight the OS battle, and so they didn’t invest resources in it.
Now they have a chance to redefine the battlefield and enter the ring.
I don’t think there is any surprise here, Mike, or any reason to pat yourself on the back (just because other rags didn’t get it). People have been talking about Google taking on Microsoft (and the inevitable day when they compete in the OS market) since Google went public. It’s really no surprise to anyone with half a brain.
Yeah, but you claim there’s some battle they’re losing. Which battle is that?
The OS battle. The battle of the Desktop. The Office Products battle. The Browser battle.
Everything dollar (or eyeball) that is spent on Microsoft is a dollar (or eyeball) not spent on Google. And Google is losing in every battle that Microsoft is winning in.
In some, they are losing by not showing up for the battle. It’s a forfeit.
Well now they picked their own battlefield. And if they can win on their battlefield, they may also render the old battle meaningless. Sure, you want to have a monopoly selling buggy-whips? it’s all yours.
They haven’t even entered the OS/desktop battle yet (not even in Beta!) and you say they are losing. I think they’re just starting the Office products battle and the Chrome OS is going to help with that. In the browser battle, they’ve gone from 0 to 6% in one year (in the same time that IE has lost >10% of market share). I’d say that’s a win. Microsoft should be very worried if the Chrome OS takes off because they are targetting both their Windows and Office cash-cows in the same move.
But where the fuck does this 6% of market come from ?
Asa from Mozilla has it at 2%, which is 3 times less, that a very large difference :
http://weblogs....erm_browse.html
And seriously I see chrome nowhere at 6%, nobody except a few geek is using it.
Chrome is only going to fight on netbooks. Who uses office on a low power machine? Most businesses use offices in large scale workstations, which will never be replaced by netbooks. So office looks pretty safe from where im sitting.
I agree I can live without Office but what about video editing or gaming or doing anything when I’m not connected.
No OS will ever topple windows until there is bullet-proof, per application, built-in emulation for windows applications. VM’s or dual boot are inconvenient. I think 75% of windows users have something in their “Program Files” that they just can’t live with out or get in another way. Yes 90% of your time is spent on the web but it’s the other 10% using thick apps that can’t be replaced. MS was in the right place at the right era and there is so much lock-in that it will take a serious evolution before that changes.
Netbooks. The second, third, fourth, ubiquitous computer.
Google’s not aiming for your primary pc. Just all the others.
They stated they are also aiming up to desktops. If most people sit in front of windows at work and windows at home then they’ll want windows on the move. MS can kill this by just releasing a better, lighter version of windows for mobile platforms
You’ll have access to everything on your desktop, still, via Mr. Cloud living in your browser.
And your Chrome os apps living in Wave.
But your desktop will also have the power to run other, more demanding apps.
At least for the first few years, until the OS catches up.
OK. I’ll concede that they’ll take a small slice of the netbook market – I’m just saying all this talk of Google wiping out Windows or “Google drops a Nuclear bomb on windows” is absurd. I’m not really sure microsoft care about losing one percentage point of their growing market.
The keyword: will.
That’s the future and I hope it is true. More choices are usually* better. It surely is not happening today with Windows Mobile.
* Conditions apply. Void where prohibited. Please see http://en.wikip...hy_More_Is_Less (Blatantly off-topic)
It’s a netbook OS; people don’t do those things on netbooks.
But it’ll be interesting to see where they take it from there.
I find this all very interesting, not because I particularly like Google (in some ways they scare the shit out of me), but because I think for most consumers this is headed in the right direction. For a lot of people, their computers are Word, and the browser, and their email. This makes more sense for them.
Of course, there are still issues: what happens when I connect a camera to my netbook, for example? Or a USB dongle? How does it handle those things?
We’ll find out pretty quickly when the source code gets released. We might, for example, see a Palm Pre type environment where local applications can also be written using web interface standards.
The Google Native Client would allow to do even things like video editing within Google Chrome. It is possible to play games using graphic accelleration within the browser:
http://code.goo...p/nativeclient/
The Native Client does also work on MacOSX, Linux and Windows and connects the browser with the underlying OS and the Hardware.
If it works on Mac, Windows and Linux already why bother developing a platform specifically for it? That seems incredibly redundant if you ask me.
mac at home for heavy lifting. Netbook with Chrome/Gears/GMail/GoogleApps/HTML5 for portable and iPhone/Android for walking about
EXACTLY…
Thats my plan
he shoots he scores!!
Yes ! … but you forgot Windows at work
depends where you work
Why invest hundreds of dollars into a complete system when I can get the 90% of what I really need for free.
I’d definitely be searching for innovative replacements to any of the traditionally ‘local’ apps. Seems like more of a shift in thinking than a complete cutoff.
I think the speculation alone will trigger new ideas and new online apps accessible from cheaper and cheaper devices.
Why bloat when it isn’t always necessary? Getting something to everyone is better than a few having everything.
Don’t you think Microsoft would come up with an IE OS to compete with the Chrome OS?
Mmm, Silverlight-based application suites. Gives me a warm feeling at the pit of my stomach.
Oh, no, not warm. What’s the other one? Nausea.
the netflix implementation is pretty darn cool.
and has better performance than flash
It’s not that Silverlight can’t power interesting apps – it can, and does, as you note. In some ways it’s better than Flash. But the web has become ubiquitous because of its standards-based device agnosticism. Because of Windows, Microsoft’s whole strategy runs counter to that, Silverlight included. It’s not good for the web, or consumers.
I’m all for open standards and can’t wait for HTML5 and CSS3. However, Silverlight is platform agnostic. Just like other vendor-proprietary technologies — Flash and Gears. Granted, Microsoft’s software is far from perfect but I don’t see the merit in putting down Microsoft in the name of open standards while supporting Adobe, Apple, or Google.
Your are so naive and narrow-minded
Please put your hatred of Microsoft away for two minutes and look at things clearly before you comment.
Technically: yes. Financially:no, because Microsoft couldn’t charge enough. Every netbook bought instead of a desktop is a big loss for MS, because the license is cheaper.
Isn’t that exactly what they are already trying to build since W’95?
I don’t understand why people place so much importance on Silverlight. It can only succeed if Microsoft holds off on implementing HTML 5. …
Plug that information with the fact that Microsoft has yet to comment on its roadmap regarding HTML 5 and voila!
Will the people here from DoJ please stand up?
Microsoft would ruin themselves trying to simultaneously build a “regular OS” and a web OS. They’d just be competing against themselves. There’s no practical difference between the two– I think that’s the point Google’s trying to make. So Microsoft just need to make Windows better.
All microsoft needs to do is make Windows much more lightweight, for example not chewing up 700mb Ram to run windows and my internet browser. If windows was lighter on the computer it could easily chew up much of the netbook market. Infact its pretty much only competing against linux right now, and Google next year.
IE has always stunk before – and doesn’t seem to be getting much better.
As we all know, it’s pretty useless to argue with maker of CrunchPad that the web isn’t everything.
The Internet is NOT everything.
Desktop apps will always be the most essential thing in an OS.
Chrome OS is just an effing browser. Period.
PS. Btw I bet my entire existence that CrunchPad will run on Chrome OS.
The web will be everything. There is no need for desktop applications when you can do it better and more comfortable on the web.
The CrunshPad will probably be released to early (at least I hope so) to run ChromeOS. But I firmly believe that a later version of the CrunchPad will run ChromeOS or that there will be an update available to switch from whatever it ships with to ChromeOS.
… at least that’s what I would do.
How can you “do it better and more comfortable” on the web?
Photoshop
Reason
Dreamweaver
Premiere
Illustrator
Cubase
Office
Etc.
^ Work tools. I prefer my local CPU to work for me instead of some remote server that takes forever. That’s a step backward. Oh, and you wait til there’s 6 hours of downtime when using your cloud app……then what?
Werd
Anyone remember the big internet upgrade that the big folks in infrastructure were talking about?
Then we don’t need no Windows OS.
But of all the things, the disdain and the contempt ih this article… “HAH! SCROO M$!!”
*That* was the best
The problem with Chrome right now is the lack of extensions, maybe they were keeping the extensions UI out of sight till this announcement?
Do you believe they have it?
Maybe nice for Netbooks, but this can never be positioned against Windows as a whole.
Some people still need to get real work done instead of fiddling with laggy and buddy web applications.
not even mentioning the GIGANTIC gaming market
If Gaikai works as advertised then gaming shouldn’t be a problem (assuming Chrome OS ships with flash, which is likely)
http://www.gaikai.com/
Couldn’t agree more. I think this is Google’s entry into the OS market. They had to do something different right? A purely browser based OS will never compete with what windows offers now.
Editing/storing photo’s, videos, gaming, downloading and burning dvds, etc etc. I see the web becoming a primary part of the OS (if it isn’t already) but it can’t be all there is to it. I’d never use this on my home PC, however on a device like the crunchpad it makes sense.
You clearly have not looked into 03D (http://code.goo...e.com/apis/o3d/) and other HTML 5 … wait, I feel like I am spamming here with HTML 5 related posts. …
Or is it a recurring theme?
… not to mention the google native client:
http://code.goo...p/nativeclient/
flash? look at Google O3D. Hardware accelerated 3D in the browser. Combine that intelligently with the cloud environment and you get a glimpse at the future of gaming.
I quote “Chrome is nothing less than a full on desktop operating system that will compete head on with Windows”
full on desktop OS !
Lets look at what this is and isnt. To me an OS has to run various programs. This OS is Just and only used to run a single app. A browser. Lets take windows 7, remove everything, every app that exists except IE8 and then lock it so that u cannot install or uninstall anything. Who in their right mind would get excited about this let alone want to operate it,
If MS stripped their OS down and said sorry cant install anything at all and thats it what a huge uproar there would be.
I am just saying this as I was excited and then though what am I actually excited about.
A net book that was way worse than the first iPhone OS The one that only had web based apps which are not really apps in my opinion but wont even have a contact list app or a photos app. Ok they can use the browser to look at some stuff like that but hey.
Now we get excited and consider more is less. Remember XP lite. an app to strip stuff out of XP. Maybe there is a use for this but surely it is not revolutionary to take 99% of the OS away. Most people want more apps and options not less.
“Most people want more apps and options not less.”
Technical users, yes. (I find myself struggling with the idea of running a programming IDE in the browser – although I’m sure it’ll happen.) But for many end-user consumers, this isn’t the case at all. Think about the simplified netbook interfaces that already exist on things like the Eee; sticking a web browser in place of that supercharges the same idea and actually increases the options while not really adding any extra complexity.
“I find myself struggling with the idea of running a programming IDE in the browser – although I’m sure it’ll happen.”
Already done:
https://bespin.mozilla.com/
While you can technically run an IDE environment in the browser, why would you? Also, a bespin-esque system works potentially fine if you’re coding for a website, but what about the massive number of non-website coding that occurs?
Why would I want to attempt to code Flash in a browser when I already have a stable, robust desktop app to do that?
OK. So Google has an OS, a browser, web apps…
So it is like Microsoft in the 90’s. Where is the added value for the user?
For starters, It’s FREE!!!
Yes, it’s for the third world countries, you are right.
Now this is what I call a constructive post, not like other blogs out there trying to gather attention and repeat the same stuff all over. If this goes as you say it would then MS definitely needs to buck up!
Michael,
This announcement by google is great. More importantly it validates, that you are a genius. I think your Crunchpad initiative adds value to in so many ways. Its forcing people to think, better yet its forcing companies to DO.
Just want to say Thanks.
how to be successful, by Mike Arrington: find a parade, jump in front of it.
all of this was very obvious last year. it’s just putting the pieces together. In another few years we’ll look back and wonder about the days that we had stand alone desktop apps.
Mike: How do you feel about being the RD lab for Google
Like iPhoto?
ROFL
http://www.ft.c...?nclick_check=1
naturally– jump out front of the parade
Ignore crediting drudge and FT
lol.
Mike: Good point about the parade. Going back to the browser OS discussion. Does anybody remember MyWebOS.com back in 1999? Then IE 5.0 was THE browser. MyWebOS came to show a viable application platform can in fact be build with Css, Javascript, HTML. I speculate here, but it seems Microsoft actually did pay attention, but guess what they did: they broke the Javascript behaviors first introduced in 5.0 and replaced them with their better, new, more complicated behavior model, no one considered using anyway. Essentially, they end up killing MyWebOS and no attempt has been made rebuilding until the Google time. Personally, I welcome the development. Everyone should get the deserved for the lack of vision. This time there is a crowd and a parade forms.
Games, Software Development, Audio/Video. We like our desktop apps!
I don’t see Google Spreadsheets (or anything) replacing Microsoft Excel for power users in the near-term, or possibly even the long-term. That’s their one untouchable product. Not much of a parade there though..
I think there’s a false dichotomy here. Desktop apps developed directly on the OS layer do not need to be stand-alone…look at iTunes for example. Particularly for mobile development, the preferred path is looking more and more like SDK apps as custom front-ends for networked applications (i.e. a custom app replaces the general purpose browser for the UI). This is what a lot of the iTunes App Store success is built on.
I believe this OS should be back targeting netbooks. I mean, are you sure ALL PC users have initernet the 1st time they own a new PC? and not all of us has a good internet speed. And not all of us trusts the internet.
Not all of us trust microwave ovens, or city-supplied water.
They have alternatives: tin-foil hats and South Beach Beverage Company …
Nice development. And to be expected, haha.
Yeah so how does this affect Crunchpad? Perhaps the simple answer is, it ramps up sales, speeds scale and makes it open source quicker so people with soldering irons and sheds can fiddle with wires and LCD’s rather than their wives or hard drives.
Conjugal rights are dead, long live the Shed Pimped Web Tablet!
I really hope this takes off, if only for purely selfish reasons. I already develop desktop style apps for the browser using AJAX/JS and I can see a lot more work coming in as a result of this.
Plus, of course, I am in support of anything that will eat into the market share of Microsoft’s sluggish buggy browsers (IE8 is included in this).
we are going to have a new king for computer and internet , i seems Google will just rule the internet and computer world , they are great .
Great at doing WHAT?
Wait… what if someone doesn’t have Internet access?
Obviously, no one thought of that…
HTML 5 supports offline application use. But you probably would need to connect to the Internet to use an application for the first time.
“But you probably would need to connect to the Internet to use an application for the first time.”
No shit, Sherlock.
You really are quite the strategist.
Are you saying, NO Internet access at all? I am sure some clever developer will build something to allow you to download data and apps on another computer, bring it in a flash drive and put it in your computer and run it with HTML 5 …
… wait a minute, I demand the W3C to pay me if I mention HTML 5 once again!
This news is like music in my ears/eyes.
Well it’s interesting, they reinvent can you explain how a javascript/html combo will be as efficient as a native, hardware accelerated, optimized framework ?
Please look at this:
http://code.goo...p/nativeclient/
http://code.goo...e.com/apis/o3d/
Yep, you seem to be the only one here who gets how big this is!
Cheers,
Nick.
with all the respect Mike, Joel Spolsky nailed it way back in 2004
http://www.joel...les/APIWar.html
and still, the “damm get out of the way” is what bothers the software industry for decades. It’s not that easy. And as real fan and user of Ubuntu, well, it still doesn’t “gets out of the way”.
well, i’m assuming the bad parts of linux will be stripped out…like the UI.
and to be clear, i’m nowhere near to saying that i was the first to predict all this. not even close.
We’re just glad that your one-handed typing is due to back-patting and not porn-viewing.
The UI? KDE4.2 has one of the best UIs I’ve seen.
geezus.
And if the internet ever goes down, you’ll be peeing in your TC-logo onesies and running back to Papa Bill! Yippy! More reporting about absolutely nothing.
you should read up on gears and html5 and offline use. plus, eventually the internet going down should be about as frequent as the electricity turning off.
as opposed to Windows locking up, which happens regularly – at least weekly for me.
Uhm… what about China, India and, well, half of the world’s population? Not only the Internet does go down here (I’m in Shanghai), but the government disables services all the time, without having to give an explanation. I think we’ll not be shifting to the cloud anytime soon in this part of the world…
Your problem is your government. Not technology.
The Italian government, you mean? I’m an expat working in China
well played and well said Michael
Haha yeah, apparently the Internet isn’t EVERYTHING there is to an OS.
Surely this be the default OS on the Crunchpad?
…We’ll see PCs of all types being sold by the major manufacturers as soon as Google gets this out of beta next year…
Arrington is wrong. Google Chrome OS on reliable computers. No way!
It should be interesting to watch which OS finally comes out on top
The nature of any popular open source software (particularly an OS) is that fragmentation is inevitable, whether you consider it to be a positive or not. So if ChromeOS “wins,” it will win under half a dozen brand names offered by as many companies or organizations, each with their own personalized flavor of the OS best suited to their users’ individual needs.
Of course, Google doesn’t care about this. They aren’t entering the OS business to make money or even to seek a monopoly – their primary goal is to act as a particularly effective competitor to the market’s status quo, forcing the market’s existing participants to improve their support for rich web apps at an accelerated pace.
“The nature of any popular open source software (particularly an OS) is that fragmentation is inevitable.”
This isn’t necessarily true. Fragmentation has been observed in many major projects, it is true, but many – the majority, I think – have either no fragmentation or a single overwhelmingly popular branch. Having a corporation guide development and actively encourage adoption of a particular implementation tends to maintain cohesion.
This will hit desktop PC’s as well as soon as ’streamed’ gaming works well enough. Instead of WoW clogging up 15Gb on your hard drive, you just login through a web browser and BAM playing with no slow down in full screen resolution.
Can’t wait.
It’s so fun to reinvent the wheel on the net, so that in five years webapps will finally be the same that the desktop apps 10 years ago
+1
Pat yourself with both hands Michael. Regarding typing the article I think you can afford a speech to text software.
http://research...lle-062909.aspx
basically MS are doing the same
only difference is that: MS is only “speaking” and telling us of Abstraction and so on in a paper whereas Google Press release says the beta will be out next yr middle.
Oh and Microsoft’s Browser based OS will NOT be free as you may dream it to be
What about things like itunes and photo management etc. These are things that people do use netbooks for regularly, that aren’t web based.
Reports of Microsoft being ‘killed’ are greatly exaggerated, there is the expected speculation and this is an intriguing development but it’s a way off yet before passing judgement!
As you state Microsoft does have a very serious competitive threat to the core of their revenues but this has been on the cards a while.
I already have a free OS (linux) and a free browser (firefox/opera/ie/etc) and I can run “web applications” in my browser.
What purpose does this serve the actual users rather than Google Corp.?
Seems to me its just Google taking a poke at Microsoft and hoping the “open source community” will do the hard work of actually developing apps for it so its even usable.
It’s a red herring.
i was just thinking that….
how does this make chrome an OS?
Hell, I have IE…if i attached windows 7 to it, it becomes an operating system.
I agree 100% the importance of this. My back is also warm from all the patting – here is what I wrote in a October 2005 slashdot comment:
> Is there a GoogleOS in our future?
Effectively, yes. The internet and associated protocols, data structures etc are becoming more and more important, and the underlying OS less and less important – you can do a lot now (email, edit notes, images etc, dispatch compute jobs etc) with a web browser without caring about the underlying OS.
Web browsers currently are limiting. Many user interface aspects of web browsers suck, therefore so do any applications which rely on the browser for user interface.
But gradually standards are emerging which provide software infrastructure for web applications, e.g. the Google Maps thing. I guess Java is too slow to be the infrastructure, and the standard Java interface libraries are also a but weak for GUIs. Google are producing some of this infrastructure, which might end up as a kind of middleware OS. Some of it might end up in the browser itself; there was a rumor a while ago that Google were writing their own browser – I think that is likely.
Michael,
I just loved one of your comment “In another few years we’ll look back and wonder about the days that we had stand alone desktop apps”
Would like to see a post on it
Mikie,
I have always believed that Microsoft’s ‘Kitchen Sink’ is to opensource Windows.
Do you agree?
Open sourcing Windows would be heaven for phishers and spammers. 10,000 vulnerabilities all made public at once!
I just figured they would get all their apps online then switch to a linux kernal
OK
We have office on the internet, but the games? I talk here about real games like NFS, FEAR and more
Gaming is also possible, please look at this:
http://code.goo...p/nativeclient/
http://code.goo...e.com/apis/o3d/
I think that is probably very close to replacing operating system but then at this moment and for some time in future I do not see operating system being replaced. Dependency on it may be reduced but a machine to become independent of operating system is a bit too much at-least for now.
Sonal Maheshwari
USourceIT your single source for all IT needs
Web OS, a great idea.
Until the day you decide to plug your camera/memory card with pictures to your computer and the internet app you’re using fails miserably while transferring 4.8gb of pictures online so you can use some sub-par ajax imaging software to alter the light balance.
It’s heading in the right direction, but we’re still not there, so let’s not jizz in our collective pants quite yet.
I give 7-10 years from now to a 50-50 between MS and google on the Chrome/Windows war.
and hey… what about all the Linux brands out there?
It will be free? Come on! if Google see a way to make you pay for it, they will. Just as they are doing it for Google Apps today. So grow up and report without the traditional M$ bashing. all these companies are there to make money.
No chance in hell am I going to use a web-based version of photoshop!
There already is a web based version of photoshop – it’s not half bad either (https://www.pho...ss/landing.html). These kind of apps will eventually grow to be just as good as the full featured desktop clients, trust me. Heck, some of them already are as good, if not better (like SlideRocket).
Man, am I glad that Google didn’t *really* write “We really, really hate Microsoft.”[1] because that would really turn me off. I don’t believe for a second that Google (or Apple, for that matter) is any better than Microsoft in the long run.
[1] http://www.goog...e/small_00.html
Agreed.
But Google and Apple are constantly raising the bar at the moment, as it looks like Microsoft are struggling to keep up
yeah windows is still the king of os for a long time
the google chrome book is great btw
Yeh that’s all nice and futuristic and all. But I still live in Germany where we don’t have Internet 24/7, some days we don’t have it at all.
It’s not a commodity like in the US or other first world countries.
Our entire cutesie little country is backed by the Telekom monopoly which is about 10x worse than AT&T for comparison and owns 90% of the copper in the ground.
For a web based OS to take steam, countries need to level up to a common standard, otherwise corporate will not adopt it because they can’t rely on the net being there.
Sorry but the net has been reliable and cheap in most leading industrial nations for years…even Germany!
I think you are quite off in that statement – a lot of square miles of the USA do not have net coverage, and given things like bandwidth caps – this is a really bad idea for the average person.
I kind of share your point, the net is also crap here in Barcelona (comparing it to what I was used to back in Bucharest, Romania).
If Google OS is the trend than it’s obvious that infrastructure investment and uptime is becoming a necessity that we should really focus on.
Surely, on one hand there are children living in below-par conditions in Africa – think OLPC – they don’t have constant electricity not to mention hm, our “technology” [but this will change, slowly]. On the other hand there’s people like the Techcrunch community or myself, totally immersed into the advent of it all (sometimes I do forget the realness of the world out there – go out, hug a tree!).
From a business point of view, indeed, Google is just changing the battlefield and the market will decide if this adjustment was, you know, just. Technically, I’m sure it’s feasible. Will people give up their current computer usage habits for it? Who’s to argue – the market will tell as I’ve said.
To sum up, it sounds a bit scary and exciting in the same time. Scary because of the shock of this abrupt change but exciting ’cause I can see the possibilities and I see myself liking it (I couldn’t speak for technically-challenged people, though, but I’m guessing that the trend is to no longer be computer illiterate – even if many people still are nowadays).
ChromeOS might be killing Windows (at least it should on netbooks), but is it also killing Android? (at least on netbooks it is) Is Android now doomed? Just saying…
No Android and Chrome sit side by side…and feed off each other
Doubt that they will. Why wouldn’t Google just re-announce Android then? ChromeOS makes sense. I think Android is doomed, at least the brand itself can’t have much lifetime. Will go the way of the AS/400…
Android is for smart phones, Chrome OS is for PC’s. It’s pretty clear that Google are committed to HTML5 and such so it’s likely that we’ll see the Android browser get these benefits as well down the line. But in general the use cases for a netbook/laptop/desktop are pretty different than a smart phone. (If for no other reason that you have a lot more processing power and screen space.)
Google have repeatedly said that Android is not meant for netbooks. This is obviously why.
good to hear it will be amazing