Google's OS Gameplan

Google’s world is Web- it sees everything through this Web
prism – that’s its strength as well as weakness in
certain instances. While all the world knows that this Web giant is
working on its open Source OS dubbed as Chromium (Chrome) and it has
generated mixed interest. While Microsoft bashers have welcomed it, at
the same time Linux supporters are viewing it with caution. While
Google till now has kept its PC OS under wraps. It gave an idea to the
open source community by releasing the key build codes to seed further
development last week. From now, the open source community can access
the critical elements of the OS like the code base, user interface
experiments and initial designs frameworks.



While some of the developers have pieced the codes and packaged a bare
bone Chrome OS, it looks like it’s a long way ahead. The OS
is slated for a late 2010 launch and is expected to drastically alter
the netbook market. By next year Chrome based netbooks, according to
some tech blogs, will come at $99, and that eventuality will totally
redefine the PC landscape. There are Chrome OS versions floating in the
P2P sites and one can run the unofficial user built developer versions
of Chrome OS.  According to information available in the web,
to run the Chrome OS build, the users in the first place need to have a
virtual machine like VM Ware’s Workstation or Sun’s
Virtual Box.



According to the Google’s official blog Caesar Sengupta,
Group Product
Manager and Matt Papakipos, Engineering Director wrote that:
“First, it's all about the web. All apps are web apps. The
entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no
conventional desktop applications. This means users do not have to deal
with installing, managing and updating programs. Second, because all
apps live within the browser, there are significant benefits to
security. Unlike traditional operating systems, Chrome OS doesn't trust
the applications you run. Each app is contained within a security
sandbox making it harder for malware and viruses to infect your
computer. Furthermore, Chrome OS barely trusts itself. Every time you
restart your computer, the operating system verifies the integrity of
its code.”



Google also wants it OS fast, really fast. As per information
available, it’s taking out all the unnecessary processes and
putting a lot of parallel processing functionality to hasten
multitasking as well as boot up and shutdown times.

While the Chrome OS build release to the open source community has
generated worldwide interest at the same time the control users can
have on the OS offline is yet to be seen. It’s purely a cloud
based operating system and dependant on high speed net for most of the
functionality to work. But it’s too early days to predict the
further evolution and subsequent market success, as Google is trying to
open up a new premise in the personal computing landscape with the
Chrome OS. But it looks like the users will be tied to a Google
ecosystem that will me meshed tightly with the OS like You Tube, Wave,
Gmail, GTalk and other services Google is in.



Google’s key rival Microsoft had chosen to play its routine
scepticism regarding the new OS and had said that it can never become a
threat to Windows OS. Even the Linux community is not at the moment
really taken with new Chrome OS build release. But experts say that
once Google comes with a tightly meshed beta version of Chrome that it
will set the ball rolling and the OS’ functionality level can
be really ascertained. But Google does have serious competition apart
from Microsoft and Linux- even from ‘instant on PC
platform’ players like DevcieVM, which makes Spalshtop.



But at the end of the day, the Chromium releases right now has sent a
signal to the proprietary world that Google is very much bent on
changing the rules of personal computing by pushing everything in the
ambit of the cloud. The PC is going to be just a device like a set top
box. Moreover it is to be seen whether Chrome will work without a
traditional start up BIOS and it is rumoured that Chromium based
netbooks will use solid state disks for faster start ups. With Google
expected to launch this OS in one year’s time from now, it
looks like a exciting road ahead for the developer community who can
make their hands dirty by trying out this a new age OS. Whether Google
can engineer yet another disruptive web development with Chrome OS will
be put to ultimate test in the days ahead.