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.
Links:
[1] http://www.maximumpc.com/user/author1
[2] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/columns/fast_forward_amd_parallels_nvidia
[3] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fast_forward_is_amd_running_out_of_gas
[4] http://www.maximumpc.com/article/columns/fast_forward_intels_crystal_ball
[5] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/columns
[6] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/fast_forward
[7] http://www.maximumpc.com/tags/tom_halfhill
[8] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/magazine/2009
[9] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/columns/fast_forward
[10] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/magazine/2009/october_2009
[11] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/magazine
[12] http://www.maximumpc.com/articles/columns
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