For those that are in a coma today and have not yet heard, Google announced late last night they are releasing the “Google Chrome Operating System”. The idea is that the Internet Browser is the OS and for devices such as Netbooks it is all you really need.
At first Google sounds like a genius and don’t get me wrong, I am happy they are releasing a operating system but, did this whole idea come from Tech Crunch? Fans of Tech Crunch will know exactly what I am talking about when I say “CrunchPad”. It is basically a tablet computer that is in development by the Tech Crunch team. What makes this computer unique is that it’s running a very trim version of Linux with only Firefox as its interface.
When you realize that despite Google being Google, they have been beaten to the punch by a website just trying to make an awesome Internet browsing device. It is possible that the CrunchPad could even be loaded with the Google OS instead of the Tech Crunch designed operating system.
When thinking about a computer that I would give to my computer illiterate mother or even my grand parents the CrunchPad is way up at the top. It is incredibly simplistic with its Internet Browser interface and easy to use design. Is that what Google is going for here?
Maybe Google is just taking another shot at Microsoft as many websites suggest but I don’t personally believe that. While I would personally love to have a Google Chrome OS device I still could not be separated from my Windows machines. At the same time what about Google’s hand in hand relationship with Apple, would this damage it? I doubt that it would. For Google to be taken seriously by consumers and not just Geeks, they need to make the operating system and devices it runs on, attractive to every day users which the CrunchPad is doing.
At this point while I am loving the idea of a Google operating system I think I will opt for a CrunchPad running Firefox with its thousands of extensions rather than the Google OS with limited capabilities. On top of that the CrunchPad will be out this summer, possibly as soon as this month. By the time that the Google OS is released the CrunchPad will have already had at least a full year to improve their design and interface.
This video is not an official one and was taken down after it was first posted but it does show the potential of the device and just how an Internet Browser OS could operate.
Check It Out> Google Blog , Crunch Pad
That was a quite interesting announcement. It’s very good, that a new player will enter in the OS market.