Google OS
I’ve said before that I’m not really a fan of Google, but it seems to me that a lot of the reaction to their Chrome OS announcement has been overly negative. Much of it centres on the supposed limitations of the OS, especially with regard to running large complex apps. I think this is missing the point. The OS seems to be aimed at the netbook segment of the market – hardly the first choice to run large complex apps anyway. Netbook users want a quick way to access data stored on other machines, across the internet, and dare I use such a cliched term, in the cloud. It seems that the day of the Network Computer (which I was involved in over a decade ago) may yet be dawning. Back then the idea of remote data and applications was a little too revolutionary but now people are used to it. And anyhow – assuming Google base Chrome OS on linux and give it a good UI (the missing piece in all Linux distros to date – cf with what Apple did to BSD with OSX) then that alone may garner it sufficient support in the technical community to make it a success. And with that kind of basis, and a decent effort at a Windows emulator like Wine, it could be at least the start of a credible alternative to the Redmond offering. I’m not denying it’s a tough market to try and break into, but I really wouldn’t write Google’s efforts off at this early stage. The world is changing and Google are as likely as anyone to find a way to take advantage of those changes.
Here’s a prediction – the last remains of Microsoft will be the Exchange server. When their OS monopoly is a dim memory and their applications are treated a legacy apps, the Exchange server will still be serving corporate mail and calendars across the world. I’d say that the clients displaying said mail and calenders will be predominantly non-MS, but the server will still be there.