Google announced that they are getting into the Operating System business with Google

JEK

Senior Insider
Google Announces Google Chrome Operating System

Wednesday July 08, 2009 02:41 AM EST
Written by arn


Google announced that they are getting into the Operating System business with Google Chrome Operating System. The new OS is described as their attempt to "re-think" what operating systems should be.

Google Chrome OS will be an open source, lightweight operating system that is initially targeted at netbooks.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.
The new OS will run on both x86 and ARM chips. The first netbooks will begin shipping with the OS in the second half of 2010. In the long term, Google does expect that Chrome OS will work anywhere from small netbooks to full size desktop machines.

While Microsoft has the most to lose from such direct competition from Google, Apple will also be affected by Google's move into this space. In fact, Google's ultimate goal seems to be the same target market as Apple's. They are specifically shooting for ease of use and accessibility:

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.
The Web will be a central part of the new operating system, and demonstrates the importance of supplying a robust browser experience. Google's work on the Chrome browser will carry over into the new OS.
 
Yep I saw that. Interesting. I think I'll wait before choosing Windows 7 or Google when they are out. Good competition. I could probably put one on my desktop and the other on the laptop and compare. Of course, all my software may not work on Google.
 
Or all of your hardware. There is usually a lag on device drivers. Seems this may be more of a netbook OS,
 
Right- with hardly any big need for power or memory. We shall see how Google overcomes this.
 
I don't think one can compare Google OS and Windows 7 or OS X.

Google OS is a very stripped down operating system to run the Google Chrome browser (maybe others?). Linux core and window manager, that's it. All the applications are web based so it's Google Docs instead of Microsoft Word, Google Mail instead of Microsoft Exchange, etc.

Probably OK for many netbook users but I'm a bit skeptic about the rest of us.
 
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