Google Chrome OS - Wait and see

Google announced their Chrome OS operating system last week. But of course, you already knew that because it was virtually impossible to miss that story through all of the hype in the news. This lightweight, open-source, browser-based operating system will be free and available in the second half of 2010.

All of the Internet has been abuzz about Chrome OS, but there are plenty of reasons to skeptical of new OS. Google has said they are targeting netbooks with with OS. Unfortunately, netbooks are one of the few places Chrome OS makes sense.

Google offers Android for the smart phone market so it won't play there. On normal laptops and desktops people are looking for all of the applications and capabilities of the other OS's, like Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. You don't want to get that new computer and find that you can't run that application or game that you need for work or pleasure. Of course, the number of Chrome OS apps will increase over time and offer more capabilities, but Google has said the apps are all just web pages and usable in any standard compliant browser. So why not get Windows or OS X and be able to run of the normal programs as well as all of the Chrome apps. If cost is an issue you can go with Linux and get the same benefits.

Even on netbooks this is an issue, as evidenced by all of the people who pay more for Windows XP on the netbooks instead going with the free Linux distributions. They pay more because of the familiarity with Windows and all of the applications that are available. The same would hold true in a Windows XP (or Windows 7) vs Chrome OS comparison as well.

So who would be most interested in the Chrome OS. Certainly those alpha-geeks who love the latest technologies would be candidates will probably try it for a while (before it fades out of fashion). Those who like the minimalist look and approach of an OS that is also faster and runs on lesser computers might use it. Lastly I could see it eventually offered on very low-end computers for people who are not as tech-savvy and don't have heavy needs.

Unfortunately the potential markets don't seem very large or ones that can grow much, which doesn't bode well for Chrome OS. That being said, Google sticks with the technologies and continues to improve them, so time will tell whether Chrome OS ultimately succeeds or fails, but the initial signs don't look promising.