Google is grabbing all the headlines in the tech-nerd world with its announcement of Chrome OS. Initially aimed at the netbook market, this lightweight operating system relies heavily on "cloud computing". Since a great deal of the processing will be executed on the server side, hardware manufacturers should be able to release inexpensive netbooks that are full featured, thanks to a variety of Google products. The announcement has all kinds of implications for consumers and large corporations. I'm going to take a look at how Chrome OS impacts some major players.
Microsoft: The Redmond giant is the most obvious target for Chrome OS. Windows XP is, by far, the most popular operating system for netbooks. Although there are several capable Linux variants available, consumers greatly prefer the familiarity and compatibility of Windows. Chrome OS (which runs on top of a Linux kernel) can succeed where other Linux builds failed. Netbooks using Chrome will presumably feature heavy Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Chrome (the browser) implementation. And since the OS will be free, consumers will be getting netbooks -- with built in office functionality -- that are cheaper than ones using Windows. Currently, the price difference between netbooks using Linux and those using Windows XP is around $50. The projected difference on future, more powerful models using Windows 7 is expected to be even more. Chrome OS gives netbook manufacturers a way to keep prices down as Microsoft continues to raise them.
Intel: Google stated that Chrome will be able to run on ARM processors as well as x86 processors (Intel/AMD/VIA). At this time, Windows 7 will only support the latter. A lot of netbook makers are interested in ARM chips, due to their low power consumption and the performance they delivers per watt, but the lack of a familiar OS is a deal breaker for many. Chrome OS coupled with an ARM chip looks like a winning proposition that should have Intel worried. Remember, Intel chips come at a premium price, next year's netbooks running Chrome with an ARM chip should be cheaper than those using an Intel chip with Windows 7.
On the software side, Intel has been shifting a lot of resources towards its Moblin OS, which is also aimed at the netbook market. While Intel has released a lot of great silicon over the years, it has never been known for its software or use friendliness. Google has a much better reputation in that area. While consumers certainly know both brands, I'd bet that most of them think of Google as the more user-friendly company, thanks to products like Gmail, Picassa, Blogger, Google Docs, Google Maps, and more.
Apple: Industry pundits expect Apple to eventually enter the netbook space. While many are expecting an Apple tablet, they're all sure that at some point in the near future, Apple will release an inexpensive product that will compete with netbooks. Can't you see a more robust version of iPhone OS running on a bigger device? I can, and Chrome OS would definitely be competing with it.
Where it gets really interesting is on the corporate side. Google CEO Eric Schmidt currently sits on Apple's board of directors. When Google was purely about web services, the arrangement made sense. Things look a lot different in 2009 than they did in 2006, when Schmidt was elected to the board. Apple and Google are competing in more and more areas; Chrome OS just adds another log to the fire. Will it be a matter of time before Schmidt is asked to leave Apple's board? Are there too many conflicts of interest now?
Consumers: As Captain Planet said, "The power is yours!" Chrome OS is great for consumers. It will make the netbook market more competitive by giving consumers more choices, which should help keep prices down. Personally, I love the idea of a Chrome OS netbook with a capable ARM processor. I can get a lot of work done with Gmail, Google Docs, and the Chrome browser. Other Google services, like Google Maps and Blogger, are great for general productivity and entertainment. If the retooled Google Voice is good enough to replace Skype, which I rely heavily on, then Chrome OS netbooks will offer me an all-in-one solution for office work, communication, and the countless hours of entertainment I can get from web browsing.
Of course, this is all in theory. While I expect Chrome OS to be a good product, I wonder if it will have the smooth start and hype that Gmail enjoyed or the bumpy path that Android is on. Whatever the case, Google's announcement has made the netbook market terribly interesting...and I'm not just saying that because the Chrome logo looks like a Pokeball.
What do you think of my analysis? Do you think Chrome OS will make a splash in 2010? What companies will it hurt the most? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!
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Tigersight
Google is going to wipe every other OS company off the face of the Earth. They are so powerful, Microsoft doesn't stand a chance. That, and no one likes Microsoft as it is. But, I do have to agree that they're probably waiting to see what Google does and have thousands of plans for every possibility. It's just, none of them will work. Google always wins.
Guldahn
The problem with cloud computing and using a lot of Google services via the internet is that well you need internet. Especially on a netbook which is for travel and not home or office use, it will happen to you quite often, that you have no umts or wifi. Will ChromeOS even boot when that happens? Will I be able to access my data or is everything saved on some Google servers?
Flynfsh
stupid captain planet with his stupid green freakin mullet
SithGorilla
@Raymond Padilla: With that being said, do you think the Chrome OS could be beefed up to handle a application like Photoshop when/if they release it for desktops?
Sigil
Apple isn't going to be releasing a netbook anytime soon. "Industry Pundits" have been predicting it for some time now. Yes, for quite some time now.. Apple has a "netbook"; it's called the iPhone. Google is directly going after Microsoft. Their OS is for PC not Macs LOL.. Android......Well, that's another complicated story.... I must also add that people are creatures of habit. It will be a tremendous undertaking for Google to even put the smallest dent in Microsoft.... Yes, this is all "theory".. perpetual speculation.. nothing to see here people to just move on.....
ED-TwoOHnine
wait until the seventh version comes out, No doubt there will be hundreds of bugs and problems, being so early in it's stage
purewitz
If it can play PC Games that say "Games for Windows" on it. I'd switch, but I doubt it will. Mac OS, Linux, Fedora, and Open Solaris, can't. So why would this be able too. If OnLive is for real and works, I'd really consider switching to the Google OS or any of the others. As of right now though, I'd sticking with Windows 7 RC.
nykkk
Although chrome may be free, would it still be able to beat windows 7. Sure it'll compete but does it have a serious chance at beating windows7.
AnonymouZero
As a sony fanboy, i hope they run MS to the ground! xD hahaha, just kidding of course. They can run it to the ground AFTER i buy all those cool xbox games they got... you exclusive bastards.
jamie543
@ vismortis
But once chrome moves into the home it wil make its way in to buisnesses (if it works that way) If the buisness owners become comfortable witth chrome at home and chrome is a relevant alternative which works well in buisness and user-friendlyness, then buisness owners will see the benefits of a cheaper OS and may eventually switch. but im talkin 5 years + not right away.
onlyrecoil
I would personally like the Chrome OS to be successful simply because it would make the average consumer more aware of Linux and bring it to a larger consumer market.
I personally don't think it will have as big an impact on Microsoft as people think, however. Like stated earlier, if it succeeds, it would be like Firefox and IE, to a certain degree. But it would be nice to see how a Linux distribution made by a major corporation will impact the consumer market.
One thing that stands out for me as someone who uses Linux (Ubuntu, for anyone who wants to know) is this: how is having a Linux distro made by a big-name company going to affect the Linux community, and how will it affect development for Linux? Will we see more applications (even, hopefully, games) being made with Linux versions in addition to their Microsoft and Apple counterparts? Will other distros get more funding to further the development of their distro? These are questions that I hope will be answered in the coming months.
xiqtem
Am I the only one that thinks "Cloud-Ware" is a bad Idea? Come on, I don't want my computer usage limited at any time by some server side bandwidth problem. I also don't want some Corp knowing what apps I'm using or any other information about me they don't need. Then the idea that Chrome is based on Linux, there are already some great distro's out there. I've been using Debian for years. All the newbs are using newbuntu or variants, they are all based on Debian. I'll try Chrome but it is going to be a niche filler for a niche that doesn't need filling. Most of the good Linux distro's have net-book installs already working or on their way to working. I hope Chrome is successful for one reason, competition. Competition gives the consumer choice and encourages companies to be inventive. The market decides what will succeed. "Vive le march� libre" Ironic since the French are a bunch of Socialists... :)
Ps3nation
1) Loosing billions on the Xbox RROD (a poorly engineered system)
2) Loosing millions on the Zune
3) Now gonna have a huge dent put in it's armour by Google.
TheMadCorellian
This is far simpler than some of you are making it out to be.
Forget videogames and Photoshop and hardcore business apps. As the name implies, a netbook is largely meant for getting on the Internet - do some web browsing, check your email, maybe a few rounds of solitaire over lunch and a peek at your schedule for later today. This isn't rocket science. The Chrome OS uses the most familiar interface to any modern computer user who's ever gone online: the web browser. Most of the apps will be web-based, with an "engine" to allow you to use them offline, not much differently than how mail readers can work offline once the mail is downloaded.
The netbook is the "bare-bones" commodity version of the computer: simple, basic and cheap enough that in a short time, just like with DVD players, microwave ovens and coffee makers, the name brand won't matter - they'll be of roughly equal quality, work almost exactly the same, and price will become the main determining factor when buying. You might look a little at features, in much the way you might buy a 8-cup coffee machine instead of an 12-cup or a 4-cup model, or a 1300 cubic-centimeter oven instead of a 900cc or 1700cc model, but that's about it - and that has little to do with the operating system, more to do with the hardware.
Chrome is simply a way for netbook makers to make cheap, simple netbooks, period. It's also a way for Google to get more mindshare, but that's more of a happy (and intentional) side effect for Google. The consumer by and large doesn't care as long as they have a cheap machine that works as advertised, regardless of the OS. Most users (not the kind of people who write in here, but the Joe and Jane Sixpacks of the world) have little to no understanding of what an OS is, and when asked think that a browser is a "search engine" - all they really know is they turn on the box, it starts; they click on something, and they can write emails to little Tommy and watch videos from Grandma in Florida. (And if you think I'm kidding about the "search engine" comment, just look at some of the videos Google made about Chrome when they did some street interviews...)
Google's business model here isn't Microsoft's - which is "get your OS everywhere and charge for it on every screen." Theirs is more like the printer manufacturer - get the printer out cheap (or free), and charge for the ink (or in this case, for advertisers to get targeted access to your customers).
So as long as Chrome OS doesn't look totally bizarre and off-the-wall and works like Google says it will (like a browser), the end users of the world won't care - other than the fact that Chrome OS machines will likely end up being cheaper. Microsoft and others can try to compete in the OS market for netbooks, but after a while there's little point in throwing money at making a slightly better DVD player for the masses. If Microsoft got out of the software business and got into the Internet business whole-heartedly, then it would make sense, but making a product you're going to charge money for when someone else makes something JUST AS GOOD but FREE is not a business model I'd want to be working with. Linux, Ubuntu, et al. didn't take off because they had only half of the equation right - they were free, but they weren't just as good, not from the point of view of the average "Sixpacker" end user (and Microsoft's marketing doesn't exactly help the little guy, either). It was no mistake that Google came out with Chrome as a browser first, then as an operating system.
Lastly, bear in mind, this (for now) applies solely to the netbook market. Just as there are cheap-ass DVD players and coffee makers that get the job done for most of us just fine, there are people out there who get the "videophile" DVD/Blu-ray player or the German-engineered espresso/cappucino maker that grinds its own beans. The gamer PC is a prime example of that market. Desktop PCs are still big with some companies that like employees tethered to their ball-n-chain desks, and notebooks haven't quite dropped into the commodity range just yet, though that may change in a handful of years. So this isn't Microsoft's or anyone else's deathknell - but it is an opportunity for an agile competitor to push into a market that otherwise would have become yet another of Microsoft's playgrounds.
Smartguy81
@Rpad
I don't hold out much hope for Google Chrome OS. I do not think they will have the quality control necessary (your argument agreed by me) to offer a free OS. Back to what I said earlier, people feel alot more secure about those kinds of things when they buy them.
We shall see though.
r_pad
@GaToL0c0 Considering this will be initially for netbooks, I'm not sure what your point is. There aren't any netbooks that can run Crysis or Photoshop in an acceptable manner.
GaToL0c0
@Raymond Padilla Web apps are one thing but what about running a game like Crysis or and app like Photoshop. That's what I am interested in seeing if the Chrome OS will run. It's got to be solid.
r_pad
@GaToL0c0 You have to think about the way the Chrome browser works. In many ways -- running web apps, managing processes, managing memory -- it works like an OS.
GaToL0c0
I dunno I will have to be convinced with Google's OS. I mean don't get me wrong they will have a great "netbook OS" that will run Google Docs, Gmail, etc but will the OS eventually run other apps & games? If this is strictly going to be a netbook then well I guess Google which have a nich in that particular market. I am more interested in a full scale OS like Windows to even consider using it.
r_pad
@Smartguy81 That's not quite the same. Other companies aren't changing the code for iTunes.
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