Google Chrome OS: Microsoft Killer?

By Michael Arcand on July 8th, 2009

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Yesterday Google released most of its long term projects from the “beta” tag.  Today we learn that Google is now going where no search has gone before: the operating system.  According to a new post over at the official Google Blog, an operating system is in the works that will use a Linux kernel as the base of its operations and Chrome as its browser.  Looking to enhance the experience of users first on netbooks, the Google OS sounds like on the surface a system that will place more emphasis on all of the cloud-computing based applications rather than the desktop software model that the majority of us use today.

Here’s an excerpt from the announcement on the Google Chrome Operating System:

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web.

So there you have it from the horse’s mouth … or something like that.  So will Google’s OS be a Microsoft killer? That will remain to be seen.  When it’s all said and done it still sounds like it will be sitting on a modified Linux kernel which begs the question: is it really a ‘new’ operating system?  Another thing to consider is the fact that it took Linux years to get the meager market share it has now.  How can Google better that timeframe?  It hasn’t exactly taken over the world with its browser just yet (although it has become my personal favorite).  I’m looking forward to checking out the upcoming Chrome OS, but don’t place any bets on it conquering Redmond just yet.  Check out the video below for a little background on the Chrome browser and possibly a litte of the thought process behind the new OS …