Google announced its plans to roll out an operating system that looks to compete with the likes of Microsoft. Here are five reasons why Google Chrome OS is a real big deal and five reasons why it isn't that important.
Five Reasons Why Google Chrome Operating System Is a Big Deal
1. Hello! It is an operating system. And the vendor that
controls the operating system controls the application stack and can
win the hearts and minds of developers by giving them a way to make
money for their code pounding.
2. The Chrome operating system provides a critical bridge between Web
2.0 applications sitting in the cloud and a beefed-up browser. The
entrance of Google into the operating system business closes the loop
between online, offline, cloud-based applications and mobile
applications.
3. Google's Chrome browser is a really good browser. I've been using
Chrome along with the new Opera browser and I'm telling you the new
browsers are remarkable for stability.
4. The Chrome operating system doesn't have to be a success. As long as
it can play nicely with other open-source operating systems such as
Ubuntu and Intel's Moblin, then the Chrome operating system can be a
nice little thorn in Microsoft's side. On the other hand, of course,
Windows 7 really needs to be a big success.
5. The Chrome operating system is only part of the Google game. The
Google Wave shared-resource system still in development will be a
bigger deal than the Chrome operating system, but just like the
Microsoft competition, the more you can make all the parts work
flawlessly together the stronger you are.
Five Reasons Why Google Chrome Operating System Is No Big Deal
1. Google makes its money sticking ads next to search results and has yet to show it can reach beyond that model.
2. Operating systems from Ubuntu and Red Hat are way ahead of anything
Google can do. Those companies (yes, along with Microsoft and Apple)
have shown they can court developers and provide solid operating
systems. You really don't need another one in the game.
3. Hardware suppliers control the operating system business. They cut
deals with the software suppliers for co-op advertising dollars and
push products based on those deals. I don't expect to see a lot of co-op
dollars coming from Google to, say, a Dell.
4. The mobile, netbook and desktop operating system business is not
going to roll over for Google. The big Asian vendors are going to end
up in control of the netbook and mobile operating system business.
5. The entire operating system business is getting virtualized. No one
is going to really know or care what system is running on their
hardware.
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