I read an article in the New York Times about the newly announced Google Chrome operating system. Yes, OS, not just the browser. The intention of Google as seen in their Official Google Blog is to evolve operating systems out of the old pre-internet design that has caused so much frustration for current computer users. Machines are slow to start and slow to get on the internet. Google promises to have your comupter on and the internet available in a matter of seconds.
This all fits in very nicely with their attempts to move us into “cloud” computing, where apps are web-based instead of based on your CPU at your home or office. This makes everything available anywhere you have internet access, and speeds up using and sharing considerably. But not everyone agrees that this is all good. But I’m not sure all is well with this new direction in computing. After reading an article in Slate, the situation appers to be more foggy. It points out that many of the programs we use everyday at work and at home, will not run on a cloud-based OS, and if you are a gamer, good luck finding games written for anything but windows. I believe he has a very valid point here. While Google is serving up a lot of free programs, they do tend to not be as robust as the desktop versions we use. Unless Google figures out a way to make the internet more powerful, I’m afraid their OS won’t revolutionize computing so much. What they will revolutionize is how we use the internet. Who wouldn’t want to be online from shut off in a matter of seconds. A PC with Vista, takes quite a few minutes just to start, then you have to get your browser up and deal with all the updates as you go, and Vista permissions. The Chrome OS promises to eliminate the need for anti-virus and updates. That is welcome news.
Whether or not Google Chrome OS provides us net relief remains to be seen. If nothing else, it will serve as a challenge to Microsoft to get out of their rut and re-think how computers should work.
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