From the Techcrunch post http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/08/google-chrome-redefining-the-operating-system/ "Purists complained that a browser isnât actually an operating system, and brought up mundane issues about hardware drivers, memory and processor management, and other red herrings. And now...Google just bolted a big olâ bag of drivers (also known as the Linux kernel) to Chrome and are calling it the Google Chrome Operating System. Itâs going to be hard for people to continue to deny its operating systemness now. The new OS will focus entirely on the web: âThe software architecture is simple â Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform.â What that means is this. The browser is the platform. The browser is the UI. Windows is hardware management plus an application platform, and we call that an OS. Chrome OS is hardware management plus an application platform (the browser), and we call that an OS, too. That must send chills down the spine of the guys up in Redmond." So? Does this mean that Chrome can take a chunk out of MSFT in the next 48 months as major netbook makers start to ship their hardware with Chrome only, representing the thin end of the wedge? MSFT as long term short?
And imagine that, the only word processing documents you will really have access to are ... Google Docs! How convenient. I think a lot of us saw this coming a mile away. There has been a lot of talk of Google trying to make the browser the new operating system, while Microsoft was trying to make their Office suite the new operating system (via plugins to the Ribbon). Google is making their play for the netbooks, it seems.
Hint: look at web browser and operating system usage shares and you tell me: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_desktop_operating_systems
Yes, obviously this pie chart will look the exact same in 5 years. It would be impossible for Google to grow their business from where it stands 6 months (or whatever) after it launched. At one time a pie chart for daily transportation of trips of 5 miles or greater would have looked somthing like this: 50%- Horse/carriage 30%- Walk 20%- Train 5%- Bicycle 4%- Automobile 1%- Other