“It is a little hard to imagine this quixotic project — dubbed Google Chrome OS — will be very successful, for reasons I will discuss in a moment. But it certainly isn’t hard to see why they are going to try: The stakes are extremely high. Windows generates $15 billion in annual revenue. It’s the heart and soul of Microsoft, the centerpiece of Bill Gates’ dream to put a PC on every desktop. Other operating systems exist, but none have much traction in PCs. Apple refuses to license OSX [sic] for the PC market; Linux is a tiny player in desktops and laptops. Desktop Solaris, anyone? No thanks,” Savitz writes. “Buy a PC, and what you get is a box to run Windows.”
Savitz writes, “Were Google to win a modest share of the PC operating-system market, it would gain a huge edge in the battle for control of the computing universe. But it won’t be easy. Google has challenged Microsoft before, to little avail. Gmail is useful but has hardly dented the combination of Outlook and Exchange. Google Apps, an early bet on cloud computing, has barely put a glove on Office.”
“Google’s decision to attack Windows comes just weeks after Microsoft’s launch of Bing, a well-received search engine that is attacking Google at its core. Data from Hitwise shows Microsoft in June saw usage of its new search engine increase an average 25% a week sequentially through the month. Microsoft’s task is more manageable. Search engines aren’t that sticky. Operating systems require a commitment,” Savitz writes. “The boys in Redmond are holding the better hand.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ll wait to see just what Chrome OS is first, before pronouncing it folly.
