Google's Chrome shines with hope

By M H Ahssan

It was only a matter of time before Google's campaign for global domination and data control ventured into the realms of software operating systems. Its latest announcement takes aim squarely at its largest rival, Microsoft, which has been churning out the world's most popular computing platform for years. Love it or hate it, Windows runs on about 95% of the planet's PCs and sells over 400 million copies per year. Those are going to be hard targets to hit.

Google Chrome OS was introduced on the company blog this week along with a few paragraphs about the new vision the company has about people working on the web as opposed to their desktops. The new no-cost operating system will be aimed at netbooks, a rapidly growing market of lower specification, lightweight and smaller laptops. The system aims to be fast, simple, secure and available to consumers by the second half of 2010. The Linux-based kernel will be open source and will run on x86 and ARM chips, making it compatible with the majority of today's hardware.

Little other technical information is currently available; at the moment it is just a message from Google that people want their computers to be better. They want to get online quickly and access their e-mail and data instantly without having to wait for boot-up times, virus scans and browser loading. Hours spent installing and configuring software and hardware and worrying about updates and patches would also not be missed, according to the search company.

That message rings true for many, but there is also the huge problem of learning a completely new way of computing; people are used to what they have and they don't like change. The challenges for Google in this arena are huge. For years, corporations such as Sun Microsystems and IBM have been trying to vie for a slice of Microsoft's OS market. Free alternative operating systems such as Ubuntu, a version of Linux, have gained traction among the tech-savvy minority, but have yet to make an impact on the market as they are perceived as too geeky and a chore to learn.

Then there is the gargantuan issue of hardware compatibility, Microsoft has entire divisions devoted to working with hardware vendors to ensure that their products run smoothly on Windows (most of the time). Almost every software company offers a Windows version as its primary product. How many will Google convince to create a new product just for its new venture? Gaming is another huge industry that relies on computers running Windows; its market dominance casts a long shadow over those trying to compete. Additionally, a solid support base is another factor currently in favor of Microsoft, as anyone who has ever tried to call Google will agree.

Although the chips seem to be stacked against Google this time, nobody can dispute its dominance online. It practically owns Internet search and gains 97% of its revenue from online advertising. Its bid to extend this dominance into operating systems could prove successful providing it can convince the public that its new baby is worth the learning curve.

Google is also targeting Microsoft's Office suite with its own platform, which will extend from current web offerings including Google Docs and Gmail. Working in the "cloud", or the web, will take off without a doubt, but the issue of online security and data protection still looms large - few people will feel totally at ease with Google having complete control over all of their personal documents. So the desktop is likely to remain diehard.

Android, Google's mobile operating system, is gaining momentum although the company states that Chrome OS will be a completely separate project, as stated on its blog:

Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems.

Initial observations indicate that Chrome OS will be more of a Google-powered version of Linux that functions as an extension of Google's web browser. Every time you go online with it you will be giving Google your location, browsing habits, search patterns, ad revenue, and even your e-mail and data. This is exactly what the American company is after after, regardless of whether it at present has the authority to do anything with this information. You'll be using a Google-powered Internet, and that could be a dangerous thing.

The Google model of offering free software may ultimately prove decisive; the company could even afford to pay computer manufacturers to preload its operating system. This would subsidize the cost of the hardware, which is good news for the budget-conscious consumer and emerging markets.

Free software has not always been the best though - the appearance of Linux-loaded netbooks into the mainstream a couple of years ago is a good example. According to market research firm NPD, over 90% of US-based netbooks now run Windows XP. Apple on the other hand has completely missed out on the netbook growth market as the company's entry-level MacBook is just under a US$1,000. A Google-powered one would cost less than a third of that.

With Windows 7 just around the corner, Google's Android gaining ground and the recent Chrome OS announcement, the only thing we can be sure of is that things are about to heat up and the way that we compute is likely to undergo some major changes. Whether we welcome them or not is another matter.