Google Operating System

Google is to launch it's own Operating System due for release mid-2010.

BBC News

I guess this was inevitable after the release of their web browser Chrome.

Very important paragraph here



Given how long it took G-Mail to get out of Beta, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for a chance to try it out on an old PC laying around.

It's out of Beta?

Came out yesterday, I believe. They had a reason, but it stunk. lol Here's their explanation.

Basically all they are saying is it will still be beta but without the beta badge to show that it is beta.

Google has in my opinion lost a bit of credibility. I don't think i'd ever think that about them because they have done alot of good things, but that reason just sucks!

Here's how a company works.

First, they do one thing, and they do it really well.
Then people invest looking to get a nice return.
Then the founders get rich and pretty much leave running the company up to anyone who wants to do it.
Then everyone makes a bunch of money which they end up reinvesting.

This is where the company starts to die, as soon as a reinvestment is made it's not about being a good company anymore, it's all about making shareholders stay happy.

Every market has a ceiling. In order for shareholders to stay happy the company has to grow into other markets, which they usually suck at in the long run.

At the end of the day, credit does have to go to Google for becoming as big as they are today. They have constantly moved into new markets over the last 10 years and generally had an element of success. I'm not sure how well Google Chrome has been doing, but i imagine once the new OS is up and running and they somehow find a way to make the browser work with the OS then it could be a success...however there is a lot of competition here.

You've got to look at the likes of Apple, they have moved into making mobile phones and in a way taken control of this market by setting a new standard. The iPhones are easily leading the way in terms of technology being used on the phones. Googles phone has not really kicked off as well here, there seems less hype and generally people are not as impressed by them as they have the iPhone. Hopefully this is not a sign Google are going to go down the pan like Microsoft have done in a way because i still like Google.

One of the Wired writers posted his thoughts on the potential gains the Google OS could bring (article here).

Or there's a rather comical list of "11 Undocumented features of Google Chrome OS" over here. Gave me a laugh.

So at long last Google is making its move. It is poised to strike at the heart of Microsoft's software empire. Really a great news indeed. May google bring something much better than other OS. I guess it wont be a GNU / GPL. No matter how it will be but we believe google will surely look after the customer support as it always does.

What i think, if they can't beat Microsoft in software business.

Software will be open source and free to download and use. Companies like ACER, Toshiba and Hewlett Packard have confirmed they will be using this software on their hardware.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8141964.stm

To some point I suppose that's the intention, but I think their goal is to wedge themselves into the market with the 'next product'. By that I mean that I don't think Google would go directly after Windows' current niche. I believe they'll go after precisely what we've seen - netbooks, mobile operating systems (Android), and the like in attempts to carve their own position into the OS market as new demands arise.

I doubt Google OS will evolve into the Windows killer that everyone seems to be clambering for any time soon. M$ has its downfalls, but they're an extraordinarily strong and resilient company. We've seen others come and go yet Windows remains. Are people calling/ready for an alternative solution? Absolutely. Does that mean Windows is facing any serious threat of getting shelved? Doubtful. IMO, we'll see a few evolutions of what 'OS' means before challengers have tied into a strong, competitive position.

Google's OS is going to be nothing more than a new window manager on top of a Linux kernel. They say this right in the blog. Of course they'll tweak the kernel to their liking but as it stands right now it's nothing more than a glorified Linux distro.

Of course, people will flock to it just because it's Google.

Agreed. However, maybe that's the type of push that Linux needs to improve their mainstream efforts. Think Google would continue to tout their name in the light of success? Thoughts?