Google Chrome OS
In a move that could lead to some long faces over at Microsoft, Google have announced that they are to extend their Google Chrome browser into a full blown operating system. The search engine giant apparently thinks there is more that can be done with Operating systems than is currently being tried by the makers of Windows, Linux, Mac OS, et al.
Much in the way that Google Wave is being portrayed as an attempt to bring email into the digital age, the Google Chrome OS is being talked up as an attempt to build an operating system that feels as if it was invented in the internet age, as the following extract from the Google Blog illustrates…
“The operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. So today, we’re announcing a new project that’s a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It’s our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.” – Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management.
Lofty claims indeed. The OS is touted as a quick, lightweight system that will be initially targeted at netbooks – the first systems with Chrome OS installed should be available in late 2010. The idea is that the system will be designed to start up and get you onto the web in seconds, most of the actual user experience will then take place online with very little in the way of installed interface getting in the way. The system is being called a response to people’s frustration with the load times of their computers and browsers.
Another supposed benefit of the system will be security and again, on this point Sundar feels confident enough to talk tough ‘We are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS.’ The idea is to take worries about viruses, malware, etc., off people’s plates, giving them a system that just works… In theory anyway.
If it works, Chrome OS will be a real shot in the arm for cloud computing, the system whereby all programmes and documents are online based as there will be barely anything actually installed on your computer, everything will be stored online. Suffice to say, the whole tech sector will be watching to see how this first big push in the direction of the cloud works out.
Related posts:
