Will new Google OS be a hit with the masses, or is their head in the clouds?

New OS due out this year may be a step towards another computing revolution 

The concept of Cloud Computing is not a new one.  It’s a way to run your computer remotely, with software and infrastructure provided as a service via the internet.  For many, infrastructure as a service is the next logical step following software as a service.  Presently there is a mix of players offering different cloud computing services, but it hasn’t really gone mainstream at the level of the individual user… yet.

Enter Google, which in just 12 years has grown from two guys in a garage with a vision, to a company of over 20,000 employees, and arguably the world’s most recognizable brand.  This is a company that has accelerated the pace of innovation to a point that would make even Thomas Edison’s head spin.  And it’s in that spirit that the folks from Mountain View plan to launch their new Chrome OS for cloud computing later this year.  Based on their existing browser, Chrome, the company is promising this OS will bring tremendous speed and ease of use, and work towards the company’s long standing goals of organizing information, making it useful and more easily accessible.  Because everything is done online through the browser, it challenges the structure of personal computing as we know it today.

While ISP’s all over the world are promising the faster internet access and pouring billions into infrastructure like “fibre-to-the-home”, cloud supporters believe that changing the OS on your machine and operating remotely will provide the added speed we so crave.  Not everyone is on board with this, there are some dissenters in the industry who don’t believe it will change much, but their perceptions may be skewed by what they have at stake.  However many players agree cloud is the way forward.

So the question becomes, why does it fall on Google to take the initiative here?  They’ve got a pretty good thing going and their products seem to be very popular, so why would they risk damaging their otherwise bullet-proof brand on this? 

Well, there are many reasons.  Remember those two guys in the garage back in 1998?  Their vision was to improve the way people access and retrieve information on the internet by organizing it and making it more accessible.  That remains the driving principle behind the company today.  They want information to be easily accessible to the masses, and for it to be organized in as useful a way as possible.  This is the company’s core philosophy and it is directly tied to the development of the new Chrome OS.

Faster

First, Chrome OS is targeted specifically at those who use the web for most of their computing.  In fact, the initial version of the product will come pre-loaded on certain netbooks as a first step.  Prototypes of the Google Chrome OS have netbooks starting up in 7 seconds.  How long did it take you to start your machine this morning?  No more clicking furiously on the Explorer icon during start-up, anxiously waiting for something to happen.  Chrome OS product demos have seen users online within 10 seconds of a cold re-boot.  Anything that works on the web, in a browser, will work with Chrome OS.  That’s, e-mail, games, chat and all your favourite applications at your fingertips in just 10 seconds!

Less expensive, easier to use, more accessible

Netbooks and tablets are smaller, lighter, less expensive and more mobile than your standard laptop.  Yet with Chrome OS they would be able to provide all the functionality of a traditional PC.  This works towards the Google’s goals of making information more accessible and useful to all, by reducing the cost barriers people face to getting on the net.  They also run faster without the bulk of a whole software suite or moving parts slowing them down.

Beyond that, Google has been a driver of innovation since it was founded, whereas the OS market has fallen well behind the pace of innovation in the industry.  A lack of competition and a tremendous change in the way people use computers over the last 20 years has left existing operating systems out of date.  Google sees an opportunity here.

The long term potential is almost unlimited.  It takes far less time to develop apps, and it’s less costly.  Security is enhanced with the cloud model because there’s far less risk of viruses and other bad stuff attacking your machine.  Yes, there are risks, but this technology is in its infancy and the long-term benefits clearly outweigh the risks.

This operating system also capitalizes on 3 growing market trends.  Consumer demand for faster internet access, the trend towards increased mobility in computing and the growth in popularity of UNIX or Linux like operating systems for personal use.  This of course includes Android, which Google Co-founder Sergey Brin suggested may converge with Chrome OS over time.  Chrome OS allows users to access their files online from anywhere.  Furthermore, once in place, those fibre optic infrastructure upgrades discussed earlier in this article will allow data to travel to and from the home fast enough to run everything online through the Chrome browser and Chrome OS.

Give Google some credit here, they have a vision and they are pursuing it.  This is an organization whose products are often at or near the top of the pyramid in quality and ease of use, which should help Chrome OS gain trust quickly in the marketplace.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, so there may be some growing pains.  But given Google’s track record, and continued dedication to its core values, many industry experts agree that Chrome OS just might take off.  It could be a first step towards another computing revolution.