Would you like your OS in Chrome?

Image by michperu via Flickr

When Google realised their Chrome browser in late 2008, many of us were interested in the product, but as with most Google projects, we were unsure of its purpose and future.  One famous MacBreak Weekly had Andy Ihnatko and Merlin Mann battling out the importance of the release, and who would have thought that a foray into the browser world would lead into something bigger?

Well, I guess that we all should have.  If we look at the Chrome browser for a second, we find a fast, powerful and reasonably reliable web browser that is well suited to the emerging online and cloud environments.  Although it is missing a few of the staples of the Firefox world, i.e. extensions. Chrome, like many Google projects, looked like it was going to offer a lot more.  

We are still holding our breaths over extensions, more is on its way, in the form of a netbook/low-end PC Operating system.  Many of us thought that Android would be the way in for Google to the OS market, as there was rumours that it had been ported to various netbooks. But with a blog post Google announced that they were expanding the Chrome browser project into that of a Linux base OS dubbed, Chrome OS.

There are a few more details from Stacey Higginbotham over at Gigaom, if you're looking for the known features.  I'm not too fussed with the details yet 'cause it isn't due until mid 2010.

What does this mean for the OS market? In the short term it will have a few companies reorganising strategies, and that might be it.  But in the long term, I feel that there could be a big splash to be made.  Why? Well if you walk up to Joe Consumer and gave him the option between a computer with a Microsoft OS or one with a Google OS, I'm sure that price would be the sticking point.  Both names hold tech and computing cache for the average user.

I suppose you could look at the performance of Android in the mobile phone market as a test case, but I wouldn't think of Google in the same context as Nokia or Blackberry.  But I would put them up there with Microsoft, so if that was the case and the user was looking for a netbook/laptop to access their online lifestyle, wouldn't you think that the cheapest offering would have the leg up?

Jason Remnant

"if it's broken, keep expanding to other markets that you have no experience in."

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