The Channel Wire

July 09, 2009

Google's taken over tech headlines this week with the announcement of Google Chrome OS, a new, open source Google operating system and potential Microsoft competitor that Google says will be available to consumers by the second half of 2010. While there's been plenty of hype and more than a little scoffing in the past two days over whether Google Chrome OS is really poised to jostle the space as much as Google hopes it will, there are a few signs that at the very least, Google Chrome OS' development and launch will provide great theater in the industry over the next year or two. Here are five Google Chrome OS debate stokers:

1. It's a Microsoft-Google Showdown For The Ages

With Google Chrome OS, Google is challenging Microsoft on its home court, the long-dominant Windows operating system. This isn't exactly any dust-up over search capabilities, as in Microsoft's Bing challenging Google's search dominance, or the two companies both offering personal health record technology. No, "a free operating system is just what Google is planning to bring netbook makers with its Chrome OS," writes Channelweb.com's Steve Burke on The Real Channel blog. "For Microsoft, whose operating systems business is already smarting from a PC market meltdown, this represents a financial migraine the likes of which it has never before experienced."

2. Netbooks Will Be The Initial Battleground

There's no more exciting (or excitable) segment of the otherwise struggling PC hardware space right now, and both Microsoft and Google have made their intentions to dominate netbooks OS known. Microsoft's corporate Vice President of Windows Consumer Product Marketing, Brad Brooks, stated in February that some version of Microsoft Windows was on 80 percent of all netbooks shipped. But in their blog post announcing Google Chrome OS, Sundar Pichal, vice president of product management, and Linus Upson, engineering director, took a few shots at a long-beaten Windows horse -- i.e. that Windows is slow to boot up and, as Pichal and Upson wrote, "People want to get to their e-mail instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up."

3. Hardware Partners Are Already Kicking Chrome OS' Tires

An FAQ on Google's Chrome Blog revealed that Asus and Acer, two dominant names in the exploding netbook market, are already among Google's hardware partners for Chrome OS. According to Google, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Toshiba, as well as chipmakers like Freescale, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, are also involved. A spokesperson for Dell told The Wall Street Journal Wednesday that Dell was also eyeballing Google Chrome OS.

4. Let The Business OS Debate Begin...Er, Continue

If Google's really going to challenge Microsoft on the OS front, Google Chrome OS will have to establish itself as a business platform contender -- and for that to happen, open up a larger debate over how much of an operating system is really needed for Web-centric businesses. As Channelweb Associate Editor Brian Kraemer points out, "Netbooks, then, could simply be a proving ground for the OS to see if the search engine giant's approach to an operating system -- namely that the Web is all users need -- will work."

5. Google Chrome OS' Effect On Other OSes Not Named Microsoft Windows

Sure, Windows is the one to beat in terms of overall market share, but what does Google Chrome OS mean for, say, Apple's OS, not to mention the broader Linux and open source community?

We'll be watching the fun, same as you. For now, the debate's raging down in our Channelweb.com community, where both Steve and Test Center Managing Editor Ed Moltzen have taken up the mantle. Get in and let your thoughts be known.