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Google’s OS to Challenge Microsoft?

Posted on: July 9th, 2009 | 21 Comments

Googlers Sundar Pichai and Linus Upson announced on Wednesday that the company was embarking on a new project: the Google Chrome Operating System. After the Web browser launched last year, many people anticipated a Google OS as the company’s next move.

Google Chrome OS is open source and will initially be intended for netbooks; however, the system is said to be equipped to power large desktop systems as well. The three main aspects of the operating system are speed, simplicity, and security. Although Google will construct its own windowing system, the new OS will run on top of the kernel from the open source Linux OS.

According to the Google blog post making the announcement, the OS will not be available to consumers until the second half of 2010.

As Google prepares to enter the operating system market, many questions come to mind. First of all, is this a direct attack against Microsoft since Bing appears to be making legitimate progress? Will Google’s OS exist as a serious contender to the alternative operating systems? How will consumers and computer manufacturers react? Will Google be hit with more antitrust investigations?

Although there are many unanswered questions associated with this news, one thing that is certain is that Google has just taken on a challenging mission.

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21 Comments on “Google’s OS to Challenge Microsoft?”

  1. Google has made more changes in the last few months since Bing was introduced into the market than it has since it was opened. Although Google still has most of the marker in searches Im sure Bing is a major concern for them. As for their operating system it will be interesting to see what happens

  2. we would like to add by google.com

  3. Google web for all part interesting. Google is the No. 1 search engine and it will also be accepted by people immediately. Let’s wait and see when it is launch. All the best to Google!

    Hussain Chaudhry Zahid

  4. Whocontrolstheweb says:

    I am looking forward to seeing google break apple and microsofts grip on the Internet and online media

  5. Whocontrolstheweb says:

    I am looking forward to seeing googles free solution

  6. Google Chrome OS sounds interesting. Google is the No. 1 search engine and it does not mean that the chrome OS will also be accepted by people immediately. Let’s wait and see when it is launch. All the best to Google!

  7. I use Ubuntu (based on the Linux kernel. It works good. Perfect? No, but neither is Windows or Mac. First Ubuntu needs is, all GUI, getting on terminal turns me off. I got spoiled with Windows and Mac.
    Then there is the forcing to update (Windows and Apple, $$$$) not only the OS but also the software. What a racket. Word processing is no longer some thing to improve. Spread sheet is no longer some thing to improve. These have become standard and should be available to anyone, and lot of them are.
    Most programs will eventually be that way for Linux based operating systems. There are just too many different kinds and now with Google, we probably will get a new standard and I predict a landslide in their direction.

  8. Craig Allen says:

    Regarding Google Chrome and Microsoft when searching for the term Chrome with Google http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=chrome&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=
    The article ‘Google Chrome OS Isn’t Challenge To Microsoft’‎ posted by Alexander Wolfe at informationweek.com appears. Yesterday this was the top natural listing in Google as a “News results for chrome”. Today this has dropped down to the 4th listing but, still remains visible on the first page.

  9. [...] it be that Google’s announcement to enter the operating system market impacted these survey results? Do you plan on adopting Windows [...]

  10. P Schmidt says:

    I believe ChromeOS has a lot going for it but an OS is just part of the story. App compatiblity, availability, performance are needed as well as user belief that the OS will survive. Some google apps are ok, but a major maturing process will be needed to refine and improve features and performance. This can be accelerated by a large community committed to the Google bandwagon, but MS will not go without a fight. I think many Window users dislike the Microsoft marketing strategy of forcing users to upgrade their OS in order to keep apps working. But, although they are disgruntled, will enough of them migrate? Now as long a MS plays this strategy and your business partners still use a MS OS, ChromeOS can either keep pace with every MS OS toggle or you and your partners collectively decide to abandon MS. Trying to keep pace, killed Novell. Getting a collective consensus is almost impossible in today’s networked world. Google’s best strategy is what they are doing–trying to make the OS irrelevant (or at least out of the way) for today’s users by enabling developers to create powerful apps easily through extremely cool frameworks. A Google-Apple alliance here seems to be a no-brainer, as well as Google-.

  11. Google Chrome browser was supposed to knock IE out of the water but I’ve not seen any significant evidence thus far. I think the big question is, will Chrome OS run Windows applications? If it will easily, unlike Linux at present, then it’s very good news.

  12. Alan Howarth says:

    Are Google becoming everything they set out not wanting to be? Where’s the dif between them and MS nowadays?

    • Stacey says:

      Well, they are a little different than MS.

      1. Google Chrome will be open-source meaning that people can alter the OS and will be able to completely control it instead of having MS control all of the configurations on it.

      2. Chrome will be free. Free for all to download, which is pretty exciting. Windows 7 will cost $350 dollars.

      3. It’s linux based, which is awesome since Linux kernels are diverse. It will be less hackable and b/c it’s open-source people can alter code so that not everyone will have to rely on google to fix bugs, like we do with MS. But some tech savvy people can correct it themselves. I like the options it’s giving people.

      Free, secure open source OS vs. Pricey (already has a major bug) closed-source OS

      To me, the choice seems easy.

      • Sure its free, this is just marketing. Who wouldnt want to try an operating system if its free to try. You cant complete against MS with another operating system that costs the same amount. I can promise once they capture part of the market they will start charging. The goodpart is that this will force MS to lower prices

      • pheiphei says:

        You do not have to wait for Chrome OS. You can replace “Chrome” with “Ubuntu” or “Mandriva” or “Fedora” in your post, and you will find that remains correct. So I always wonder, what will be the advantage of “Chrome” over another Linux distribution. Similarly, the only advantage of “Chrome explorer” over firefox is only a little faster. Right?

  13. The best news yet for us Linux users. And we are in many different modes. I use Ubuntu and it is very good, just not enough of us. If more of us get on the Google Chrome bandwagon we could do much better as long as it is open source. Just keep the good parts of Windows and throw the rest away. And don’t try to sell us a bunch of crap we don’t need.
    Things are looking up.

  14. Lyle Brunckhorst says:

    Well competition is usually a good thing, as it sometimes helps to keep pricing in perspective and boardroom folks a bit more honest about their products. However some of these cash heavy companies would much rather use their war chest to clobber the competition in the court room than in the marketplace.

    Then their is the vaporware aspect, after you spend the time in learning a new program, your OS could disappear in a nano moment at the drop of a gavel.

  15. Beach Bum says:

    Poetic Justice. As an old Novell Master CNE I would love to see ex-novell and current Google CEO Eric Schmidt put a dent in Microsofts OS dominence. MAybe even if Chrome is vaporware is would be no Different from the marketing fiction used by Microsft to market nt Server and the early versions of “Active Directory” in quotes because that is just another example of MS co-opting a word like directory impling it was a directory service but was in no way anything but a marketing repackage of the flat NT domain.

  16. While Google isn’t perfect, people have to try a lot harder to come up with negatives about Google’s products, unlike Microsoft. Microsoft practically wrote the series of Mac commercials by their own poor business practices. It shouldn’t be hard for Google to make a better OS than Windows and if they do they will capture the market for disgruntled windows users that don’t want to switch over to Mac.

  17. I don’t think anything Google touches will become Gold. Google is Search engine first, and i feel that Google must concentrate more with Online search. Concentrating in two project at one time is like “crossing the river on 2 boats, here you may reach to shore or may not.”
    However i am excited to see Google OS. I have trust with Google Privacy policy, now lets watch what will make Google Crome OS fiffer from Microsoft window. What is Google OS going to provide which window lacks.

  18. I see this as far more symbiotic than most people:
    Goog have a virtual monopoly on search.
    MS have a virtual monopoly on OS.
    MS launched Bing.
    Goog launch Chrome OS.
    What better way of convincing legislators that neither company has a monopoly…
    Compare the dev costs with the potential ‘tax’ from governments and the answer, IMHO, becomes clear.

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