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Google Chrome OS: Let The Waiting Begin

July 9th, 2009

So Google announces Chrome OS and the tech blogosphere goes nutty. But I for one, am not on the bandwagon with this one. A few reasons follow:

  • Although I generally support Google, when choosing between Apple or Google, I generally go with Apple. iPhone over Android. Safari over Chrome. iPhoto over Picasa. I love OS X. I haven’t been tempted to switch to Windows for years, not XP, Vista, or Windows 7. I’m more tempted by Chrome OS than Vista, but that’s really not saying much.
  • Desktop apps are still important. The OS doesn’t matter, and all that matters is a browser? We’ll do all our work in the “cloud?” At the rate things are going, maybe in 2033, until then, I call bull. I am still not a fan of web apps. A Mac with just Safari and Mail wouldn’t cut it for me, and does a huge disservice to all the work Apple has done to its iLife apps. Syncing an iPod or an iPhone with iTunes, or using iTunes to stream video and audio to my Apple TV, or using iPhoto to manage photographs; all things I can’t live without. I’ve got a really good ecosystem going on, here. Then add on any number of apps I use on a daily basis (Photoshop, Fireworks, Flash, Word, Pages) and even contemplating a switch is pointless. This logic works for Windows users, too. Number one on most Windows’ users list why they won’t switch to a Mac: Some Windows app they just can’t do without. If they won’t switch to OS X, they won’t switch to Chrome.
  • V1 anything isn’t worth the risk. Google made a pre-announcement. There’s no beta to play with. Nothing concrete until the middle of next year. Both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard are coming this fall. OS X in particular has gone through several years and versions of development, and is pulling ahead of Windows. Dinking around with a Google web app beta is one thing, an entire OS is another.

I do welcome Google into the operating system fray, namely to provide another option and make Microsoft waste time and money worrying (they sure did both with that Yahoo! acquisition). While Microsoft and Google duke this out, Apple will have a great opportunity to further improve OS X and the iPhone OS.

But this battle will take years, and Google is clearly, the huge underdog. Apple’s been trying for years to unseat Microsoft and I see very little that indicates Google will have any more success.

I hope this Google Chrome OS runs in VMWare Fusion because that’s where I’ll stick it – along with its cohorts XP and Windows 7 – running within in a safe little window in OS X, at least until it proves itself. And judging by how neither Windows or Linux have proved themselves to me, that wait will likely be extremely long, indeed.

Will the Google OS be able to run the Mac OS and Windows 7 in a virtual machine within a browser running HTML5? Doubt it. There’s another reason.

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  • jcieplinski
    I'm surprised that you aren't into this announcement, considering how often you've expressed being on the fence about getting a netbook. Chrome OS appears to me to be the ultimate netbook operating system.

    I agree that Chrome OS isn't going to be any threat to Apple. I do think, however, that the extremely price-conscious PC users out there who only use their computers for email and web surfing will be attracted to this enough that MS will loose quite a bit of market share and money here.

    Android and the iPhone are killing Windows Mobile. Chrome will kill XP on the netbook.

    This is a much bigger shot at MS than Apple. No, it won't stop businesses from running Windows on PC desktops, but it will eat into laptop and netbook Windows licenses. And anything that puts another dent in the MS monopoly is good for the planet, as far as I'm concerned.

    I, for one, HATE the idea of the whole computing experience being in the browser. People have been trying to sell me on this since the early 2000s, and I'm still not buying it. I still use separate apps for my mail, chat, and Twitter. Whenever a Web 2.0 service is available in a separate app (as is the case with Evernote), I use the app. So there's no way I'm going to do my word processing and Photo editing in a browser.

    But I think I'm the exception. People seem to like the GMail browser client. They seem to use web sites for all kinds of crazy things. HTML 5 is going to make web apps even more powerful.

    I think Google's biggest barrier to success here is infrastructure. I still can't get the "cloud" from a parking garage, or on my train commute to work. HTML5's offline features will help with this, but there will still be times where people will "NEED" connectivity and won't be able to get it. Google needs to be lobbying Washington to make broadband connectivity absolutely ubiquitous across the entire US if they really want to make cloud computing a reality.
  • Yes, I was interested in a netbook earlier this year, but still haven't
    purchased one. After looking at different models and even fiddling around
    with Linux in VM Ware fusion to see what it would be like, researching OS X
    installation options on netbooks, and checking out some hardware in stores
    (some are shockingly "calculator like") - I decided to just wait and see
    what Apple's answer might be, if any. I still hold out hope they're working
    on something. And if not I'll just end up with a MacBook - I seem to have
    come around that they're worth the "extra" hundred dollars through running
    OS X and better quality hardware.

    I am with you on holding back on the cloud. You raise another good reason
    why, which is connectivity and infrastructure. WiFi is nowhere near
    ubiquitous (what happened to all the free WiFi plans here in the bay area
    alone?), the cellphone companies have their own issues, and even broadband
    is pretty weak penetration wise.
  • John
    Great to see another person greeting Chrome OS with skepticism, and I think you raise some really valid points that help poke more holes in Michael Arrington's fanboy rant on Chrome OS. His TechCrunch post felt like I was reading a Google press release.
  • Sure... we do what we can.
  • daveski
    Most people purchasing a netbook want Windows UI over a Linux one. Why? Probably comfort and the ability to run certain apps they already have. Google has an uphill battle here.

    Netbook configurations vary - and this will also be an issue for Google. I expect they'll partner with a few OEMs and release Chrome on a few very specific configurations, leaving the rest of the netbook hardware to be hacked by the open source crowd.

    I've also been on the fence about buying a netbook. I know I probably won't make that much use of it, and have been waiting for Apple to release a new form factor since last summer. I can wait another 1 to 1.5 years. If (or when) Google finally releases this piece of vaporware in fall/winter 2010 it happens that Apple *still* hasn't released something, I'll probably pick up a Chrome OS netbook.
  • Yeah, when I was considering a netbook, linux always shows up on the cheaper model with a premium for XP. Would likely prefer the Chrome option to Linux, but to XP? Not sure on that one. Largely because at the end of the day, my first choice would be OS X.

    So... I find myself in the same camp as you. Wait to see what, if anything, Apple releases in this area - I could seriously see paying $700 - $1000 for an Apple "netbook" (although, it would more likely be just called a "MacBook." That's my dream anyhow; we'll see if it comes to pass.
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