08 July 2009 | Author: Yasmin Sulaiman

Google Chrome OS - a Windows-killer in the making?

If anyone was ever in doubt over Google's ongoing efforts to dominate the internet world, its most recent announcement - that it is launching its own operating system - is sure to remove any uncertainties. Google Chrome OS was revealed last night in an official blog post by Sundar Pichai, who said that the new operating system was "[Google's] attempt to re-think what operating systems should be."

Google Chrome OS is described as a "new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel", and is designed for people who spend most of their time on the web, with application developers using the web as the platform. And since it's an open source project, applications created for Google Chrome OS will also be able to run on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux, according Pichai.

With regard to security infrastructure, Google Chrome OS will apparently operate in a similar way to the Google Chrome browser - i.e., users won't have to constantly source security, malware and virus updates, as it should simply update itself. In addition, Pichai pointed out that Google Chrome OS was separate from Google Android, the mobile operating system that first debuted on the T-Mobile G1 handset last year and which will also feature on Acer netbooks to be released in the third quarter of this year.

With Microsoft's share price already in decline, it'll be interesting to see what effect Google's announcement will have on the software firm when trading opens in New York today. But whether Google Chrome OS poses a threat to Microsoft's dominance in the short term is as yet unclear. For starters, the open-source operating system will first be available on netbooks, many of which run on Linux platforms at the moment (though their portability and rising popularity means that many now come pre-loaded with Windows).

What's more, Google expects that the operating system will be available from the second half of 2010 - and, taking into account inevitable delays (T-Mobile's Android rollout was put back from summer to Q4 of last year), that's a long time to wait.

Essentially, however, Google's goals in creating an OS are certainly responding to the increasingly web-based activities and pursuits of the average computer user. Websites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Hulu and BBC iPlayer are increasingly capturing larger proportions of the time a user spends on his or her machine. Resultantly, a web-based machine could appeal to a large number of users. After all, as Google points out, many of the existing operating systems were built before the era of the web.

In addition, Chrome OS' open-source platform could play a part in lowering barriers to entry by encouraging people to play a more active part in the web. That's because, not only are netbooks lighter and more portable than desktop computers and larger laptops, but Chrome-based netbooks are likely to be significantly cheaper than those loaded with pricey Windows. In the UK in particular, this could play a role in helping low-income households and those resistant to taking up broadband to get online in the government's Digital Britain pledge for 100 per cent broadband penetration by 2012.

At the moment, it's all excitement coming from Google's camp. But we'll have to wait a good 12 months, if not more, before a verdict can be delivered on the Windows-killing capabilities of Google Chrome OS.

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