With the introducing of their new OS, Chrome Operating System, Google is a step closer to total domination of the Internet. In addition, they may also be a real threat to Microsoft’s Windows franchise, in the future.
The target audience for Chrome Operating System is users that work or spend the majority of their time on the web, and the target system will initially be notebooks. It will be available for consumers as soon as 2010, since Google is currently talking to manufactures. However, the OS will also be available for desktop systems, in the future.
Google writes on their blog that they had their user’s demands in mind, when they developed Chrome OS. Therefore, it will be lightning fast and it will just take a few seconds to boot it up and be online, which is something that sounds like a wet dream for many Windows users.
Since Chrome OS is running on a Linux kernel, it will be very secure by default. Nevertheless, Google states that they also have done a complete overhaul, of the underlying security architecture, making it invulnerable to viruses and malwares.
I guess that Google will try to make an OS that blends into the web itself, since they say that the application platform for Chrome OS will be just the web. That means that everyone can develop applications for it, using PHP, AJAX, etc.
However, as Google will release Chrome OS as open source, later this year, you can expect third party applications to be available. In addition, since Chrome OS is running on a Linux kernel, you can suspect that Linux applications, like Open Office, etc, might be able to run on it, too. Yet, Google does not mention anything about that on their blog, though.
Google say that they will work close to the open source community, which is something that I think will secure the maintenance of Chrome OS and benefit its users. That is something that Microsoft, should have done a long time ago.
It seems to me that Google has focused on Windows flaws and then done the opposite, when they developed Chrome OS. On the other hand, I do not think that Chrome OS will compete with Windows, just yet. Since Windows offers so much more, than Chrome OS is able to do now.
However, if I would run Microsoft, I would pay close attention on Chrome OS and the reception it gets. Considering the potential developer and user base Chrome OS suspects to get, it is not that unlikely that it can grow into something big, in the future. Anyone remember that small search engine that launched back in -98 and what happened with that one…
Read more: Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS