Chrome OS is an upcoming operating system designed by search engine tycoon Google. Chrome OS shares the same name as the recently released web browser, Chrome. Google’s plunge into the operating system business isn’t all too surprising but the effects on the operating system world may be bad for Microsoft.
The Chrome OS is supposedly being designed for netbooks and for a world based of of the Internet. Google has stated (and I paraphrase) that operating systems of today were invented and designed before the rise of the Internet. Google wishes to try and revolutionize the operating system business. In my opinion, Google will have a better time marketing its open source, free operating system than Linux can, and may even become a viable alternative to Windows for the average computer user. Google is already familiar to thousands,nay, millions of computer users. It’s simple take on web searching and the superior search engine makes it the obvious market lead.
One of the main issues why Linux isn’t as popular as Windows or Macs is because of two reasons in my opinion:
A- Linux is seen as too hard to use by the average computer user.
B- There are so many Linux distributions competing (and also sharing at the same time) that they seal their fate when it comes to becoming as popular as Windows.
Reason A is understandable. When Linux was in its infant years, it WAS difficult to use. Times have changed now. Some Linux operating systems are as easy to install as Windows. This popularity problem hurts Linux hardware wise as well. Some hardware just doesn’t work well with Linux (although a lot does). This isn’t Linux’s fault, rather the fault of companies that code the drivers for their products. But there aren’t enough people using Linux to go to that trouble.
Problem B is also understandable, but it isn’t helping anyone. Linux distros need to get their act together and polish their operating systems in a way so that they CAN combat Windows and the new Chrome OS. Things change needlessly from release to release.
So, with Linux trying to get its act together when it comes to a larger market share, Microsoft is the behemoth in the industry that Google has to worry about. Google is going to have to convince manufacturers to put Chrome OS on computers. Even more so, manufacturers will have to market Chrome OS so that people will buy computers with it on.
The fact that Chrome OS is free, bumping down the price of the computer by a good 200 hundred dollars, will make it attractive to new users. I may even get a copy of Chrome OS and try it out myself. Will it convert me from Linux? Not likely. But it will probably have an impact on Microsoft’s market share.
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