FAQ: the Google Chrome OS Riddle
Google's unveiling of its Chrome OS project was akin to opening a Pandora's box of questions. Perhaps actor Joe Pesci said it best in his role as David Ferrie in Oliver Stone's "JFK": "It's a mystery wrapped inside a riddle inside an enigma". While we know a few basics -- open source, lightweight, targeted initially at netbooks, runs on x86 and ARM processors -- there are a lot more mysteries to be solved before netbooks running the Chrome OS hit the shelves next year.
Wed, July 08, 2009
Network World — Google's unveiling of its Chrome OS project was akin to opening a Pandora's box of questions. Perhaps actor Joe Pesci said it best in his role as David Ferrie in Oliver Stone's "JFK": "It's a mystery wrapped inside a riddle inside an enigma". While we know a few basics -- open source, lightweight, targeted initially at netbooks, runs on x86 and ARM processors -- there are a lot more mysteries to be solved before netbooks running the Chrome OS hit the shelves next year.
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How is Chrome different from operating system choices today?
Well, that's not clear. If you drink the Google Kool-Aid, Chrome will boot up faster, run more efficiently and be free of security concerns. That's a nirvana every operating system developer would like to live in whether their software runs on a PC or a mobile phone. With Google starting at the Linux kernel and building out from there, the company is going to have to come up with something compelling beyond the Google brand name to get consumers to see a new standard of usability emerging.
What am I going to run on Chrome?
If Google adds a new windowing system and tweaks the security architecture in Linux, like it says it will, then no Linux applications will run on Chrome without potentially major rewrites. Clearly, the operating system won't run Windows applications. That's two big strikes against Google moving Chrome to the desktop in the future as it suggests. What's left is Web applications, which Google says is the initial target on the netbook. But what will be compelling about those applications to get users to adopt the platform? Google says the Web-based applications developers build will run on any operating system and browser. So why use the Chrome OS?
Where could Google innovate?
Here are some theories. "This could be an opportunity to take this stuff in the browser and bring it closer to the desktop environment and make things appear to run natively from the desktop," says Al Gillen, an analyst with IDC. "This is speculation, but if Google could make that kind of leapfrog forward they could do something really interesting here." Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT said Google could potentially use co-processors to off-load some computing needs, just like devices do today, and create customized platforms designed for such things as video or highly secure computing. "I think in a way that is a very distributive idea," King says.
