Fast Forward: Chrome Won't Shine
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If there were such a thing as post-traumatic stress disorder for weary veterans of OS wars, I’d have it. Frightening flashbacks of MS-DOS vs. CP/M... Windows 3.0 vs. Apple System 6... OS/2 vs. Windows NT... Windows vs. Mac again... then Linux vs. Windows vs. Mac. And that’s not counting the smaller conflicts that engaged OS-9, CP/M-86, AmigaDOS, and others too numerous to mention.
Now Google’s Chrome OS is challenging Windows? Please.
Look, I’ve railed at Microsoft as much as anyone, sometimes in these very pages. And my other computer is an iMac. But one thing I’ve learned is that a new OS needs a strategic advantage before it can defeat a deeply entrenched OS.
MS-DOS overwhelmed CP/M in the 1980s because Microsoft’s OS was basically free with the 16-bit IBM PC, which was more powerful than 8-bit CP/M machines and legitimized personal computers in corporate America. The Mac’s graphical OS debuted in 1984 with a huge advantage in usability over the primitive MS-DOS command line, but Apple’s reluctance to license Mac clones allowed Microsoft to retaliate with Windows and win 90 percent market share.
Chrome OS isn’t totally outgunned. With Google’s resources, Chrome OS could become, in effect, the leading Linux distro. A united front would help Linux, which suffers from the same dispersal of forces that weakened Unix. Also, the trend toward cloud computing favors a secure, nimble OS designed to run network-based software. And Microsoft’s adoption of an XML-based format for Office allows challengers to offer file compatibility with the world’s most popular productivity suite.
Unfortunately for Google, Windows 7 looks like a worthy atonement for Vista. The widespread rejection of Linux-based netbooks shows that people still expect a PC to run their familiar Windows software. Although the success of Apple’s App Store proves that a newcomer can build a software library faster than ever before, most iPhone apps are toys, not replacements for serious desktop programs.
To fight Windows, Chrome OS needs heavier artillery or a faster transition to the cloud-computing battlefield than I anticipate. A smarter strategy is a flank attack on Microsoft. Google’s Android OS can capture the new high ground of smartphones and other next-generation computing gadgets.
Tom Halfhill was formerly a senior editor for Byte magazine and is now an analyst for Microprocessor Report.
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MeTo
October 08, 2009 at 8:21am
Could Chrome OS take a 1% market share away from Microsoft Windows? If it did do you know how many sales Microsoft Windows would loose? I would think it would be in the millions.
1337Goose
October 07, 2009 at 4:16pm
I don't even think Chrome OS has the power to unite the Linux front.
~Goose
JIFF
October 07, 2009 at 1:08pm
I don't see the point of this so called war, it is not as if tou had to pick one and that's it
We can very well use Win+linux, the only ones that see this as a all or nothing war are the completely free software hippies and the manufacturers that want to lower prices by not paying the windows licence, the end users like you and me can benfit from the strenghts of both platforms
JDK
October 07, 2009 at 12:58pm
I get the point but I think you are underestimating Google a bit when you factor in the bigger picture above and beyond just the financial resources. Looking at Google search, iGoogle, Chrome, Wave, Gmail, the supposed forthcoming Google OS, the fact (so I heard) that all Windows 7 will be IE free in Europe which by default means all the other browsers are about to see huge increases, and cloud computing as a whole I would say Chrome has a fairly good chance even if only based on brand name and potential. I use Chrome as my sole browser with iGoogle and Gmail all incorporated and I couldn't think about going back to anything else (and I've used them all minus Opera...because...well...please.). I love the simplicity of Chrome with the ability to seamlessly incorporate a much bigger picture and frankly once witnessing the speed first hand everything else seems like accessing with dial up. Thats a tough thing to turn away from once experienced. I personally have zero use for the app approach like Firefox...I just want a simple and fast browser and thats exactly what Chrome is.
Is it ever going to over take IE...probably not simply because IE comes with Windows and the vast majority of PC users aren't folks that are typically going to be checking out Maximum PC anytime soon. They dont know any better and the term ignorance is bliss is very applicable.
But I doubt Chrome is going anywhere but up.
SilverSurferNHS
October 07, 2009 at 12:58pm
Figure out what he's talking about please, your argument is irrelevant...
BTW i agree with Tom
JDK
October 07, 2009 at 1:16pm
When Chrome works? It works fine for me. 100% of the time. 1 out of 20 results? Please. Guess I better stop relying on it at work in which I require absolutely accurate results every time. Which is what Google search provides me and basically everyone else. You just posted something patently ridiculous N25Philly.
Perhaps you both should actually figure out what you're talking about first. It isn't an argument. It's an opinion.
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