Painting your netbook Chrome

I hate to add to the flood of buzz surrounding the Google OS (I would say new, but it was only a matter of time), but it needs to be talked about. It didn't take a rocket scientist to predict this was going to happen or the style they chose to go with. Remember, Google is fortified in the internet and that is where their biggest strength lies, so it shouldn't surprise you when they say that they are borrowing the Linux code and slapping web apps on it for functionality. There are some concerns, but there is some serious potential here if they do this right.

First of all, there are warning signs everywhere for this to turn into something really bad. I have to admit that I generally trust Google with my information and unless things turn south in Washington in a hurry, your information is not going to be turned over or anything like that. This point isn't made to bring up conspiracy, but privacy is a huge concern to most web users as of late. While the individual might break into your information, whether in the home or over the air, it's when another entity has control over your information that things get bad.

Basically, what the Chrome OS means is that you will be even more connected to the "cloud". Draw your own conclusions on what that means to you and your privacy. The style of distribution they are going for is going to draw some comparisons to systems already in place on other OS's. Linux, for example, has their package managers in place for any given distro that make downloading an available program as easy as checking a box. The Chrome OS will probably do something similar, though I imagine that more of the simpler programs will be optional, as in they will never have to be installed on your computer. If you're a Windows user, click your Start/Windows button right now, and go through and list everything you are pretty sure you only use once or twice a year. The programs are installed, take up space, and just clutter up your computer. A netbook with a solid state drive may only have 4-20 gigs of hard drive space in place at any given moment, so the more you can get rid of, the better off you'll be.

A Chrome OS also comes with a vicious combination of potential strengths. Google has spent the majority of their time developing more and more additional services to their portfolio, making them arguably the second most recognisable name in computing. Microsoft's best chance for continuous success is their massive library of programs (useful or not), and the trust that third parties will always deliver. The only thing that could ever unseat this is a big name like Google. Now, the biggest flaw that Microsoft has, and Windows 7 will show just how committed they are to addressing it, is the huge glut of resources their OS's use. This is Linux's big strength, and Google's desire to use this is a huge blow to the big M. It will start up as quick as Linux, and potentially have the support of a lot of third party developers, AND the support of the open-source community. Effectively, you have the perfect combination of Linux and Microsoft.

Also, think of what Linux doesn't offer. Google will tell you that this is a netbook driven decision, and that's only part of the truth. Google is centralized, and that makes any OS better. If you have an issue with how Chome OS speaks to your system, Google will see it, answer it, and address it if it can. Linux can only achieve so much. If the kernel itself doesn't work well with a certain piece of hardware, it will be fixed. If the Linux OS has compatibility issues of its own, your OS won't crash, but the community will address it slowly. Anything else is left up to the open-source community to work out on their own. Remember getting nVidia cards to work perfectly on Linux? Exactly. Think Google would let that slide? Not a chance.

Expect this OS to be modestly featured at first, but this might just be the rallying point that the open-source community desires. Yes, your netbooks will run beautifully and offer you exactly what you bought them for in the first place, and it will be the option with the least amount of headache. I don't expect the OS to do much more than offer Linux-on-cloud at first, so it will be appropriate for a netbook and bringing older computers back from the grave. This will not be a viable option for power-computing in the first year. However, if the OS takes flight or does what the Chrome browser did and build a steady stream of happy converts, then you will see important announcement roll out very quick. If the OS will be released in 2010, then you can consider it a multi-year beta test for the real thing. All they will do is load the service with optional components until you won't even be able to tell it was built for a netbook. If I'm interpreting this right, then these guys have the very real potential of having a build-an-OS option, and for free. Don't be surprised if you start hearing announcements next year from big guns like nVidia that declare support for the idea. If that happens, Microsoft's dominance may officially be nearing an end.

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