Google Chrome OS confirmed. End of Windows, MAC OS ?

Microsoft will Celebrate doomsday in 2010. This is evident because of the e fact that Google is serious about competing and phasing out Microsoft completely out of the market. Recently, Google took it’s products out of Beta and now they declared another industry shaking news, a New OS to challenge Microsoft.

Basically, Chrome OS will be a cloud based OS circulating around the Chrome core. the news became official yesterday when Google published this on their blog.

Google says the OS is open source and lightweight, primarily targeting Netbooks, allowing users super quick access to the web. They claim the OS will be virus free (the security architecture is entirely new), and run a newly-designed windowing system on top of a Linux kernel that will be compatible with x86 and ARM processors alike. Though they were quick to mention this was separate from Android, they also conceded there would be some overlap in concept and functionality between the two platforms.

UPDATE: Google has also revelaed Hardware partners:

The Google Chrome OS team is currently working with a number of technology companies to design and build devices that deliver an extraordinary end user experience. Among others, these companies include Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.

While the discussion of specific apps and their look and feel was vague(could be intentional), Google made reference to a developer ecosystem that will be heavily web-based, and apps would be compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux .

The announcement of Google Chrome OS is a big step forward for a company who slowly and subtly wedged their way into web app development. Google says that Chrome OS is intended for “power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems.” So what does this mean for Google, and more importantly, what does this mean for Microsoft and Apple?

While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google,” the Google duo’s post said.

Meanwhile, Almaer, a former Google employee, gently chided the company for its pre-announcement of a technology that appears to be in its early stages. Said Almaer:

“It is interesting that Google pre-announced this so far in advance. Google is very different from other companies, that normally hold back for a release. They instead come out and tell you what they are doing (sometimes) and promise to open source it :)”

Yet, “There is a reason that we won’t see the fruit of this labor for awhile though, and that is because there is a ton of work to be done,” he added. “I am excited to see us all come together to push the Open Web platform further and get to a point where it can do everything we need to create compelling user experiences!”

Google’s stack looks like this :

  • The Chrome OS;
  • The Chrome browser;
  • Google Apps
  • Android for mobile;
  • The ad monetization model (search based obviously and focused on ‘free’ services);
  • The cloud.

Since this Chrome OS is a Cloud OS, there is a question that dangles in my mind. Those of us who consider ourselves technologically advanced, how much of the desktop experience have Google’s web apps already replaced? We’ll still have our main computers, but what will be running on our netbooks or old laptops that sit in the living room?

The only apps I use that aren’t cloud-happy are either utilities, media players or photo/video editors. And even then, those are heading in that web-centric direction. Cloud computing has been bringing us closer and closer to the mainframe days of yore. Google wants to be the only backbone working behind the scenes. By saying they’re keeping Chrome OS app development web-centric and platform-agnostic, they’re slowly luring techies into their web.

Still, Windows and OSX will always have a spacious home in the computer world, undoubtedly. Some apps will always require native architecture, and the businessmen, code-monkeys, graphic designers, video editors and other connoisseurs of nuanced computing would be foolhardy to try and work strictly in the cloud.

The Chrome OS will work on computers with different kinds of microprocessors inside, including the x86 architecture used by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and the ARM architecture, which is commonly found in mobile devices.

Intel’s Asia-Pacific spokesman Nick Jacobs said Google’s new OS further validates the netbook category of mobile devices. He called Chrome an example of innovation creating opportunity in the information technology industry and more choice for consumers.

Acer, the world’s third largest PC vendor, was unable to immediately provide a comment, while Asustek Computer declined to comment.

And perhaps more importantly, will they be able to offer the service for free? If they can let us really extend our hard drives into the cloud, look out. Chrome OS will be a force to be reckoned with.

I believe answer would be yes, and it would be more than a Just cloud OS. good things await next year. Doom’s Day.

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1 thought on “Google Chrome OS confirmed. End of Windows, MAC OS ?”

  1. ChromeOS is sounding like it is very similar to WebOS on the Palm Pre.

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