Google to launch a free OS: Chrome OS

Google has announced the launch of an operating system, Chrome OS, for the second half of 2010, designed for Netbooks. The Mountain View giant is once again on the offensive against Microsoft, but this time they’re serious!

Google is a past master in the art of vague announcements, the sort that start endless conversations in front of the screen. Their most recent sally, the release for the end of next year of an operating system made in Google! The reacton has been immediate. The web media industry has been all over the story, emphasizing the extent to which a new OS based on Google know-how would represent a serious challenge to Microsoft’s empire. And it is true that such an OS, the computing grail, the developer’s philosopher’s stone, could represent a third way between Windows and Mac.

At the moment there is really no other choice. The figures speak loud and clear. The battle between Microsoft and Apple is disproportionate but unavoidable. The firm from Redmond controls 90% of the computers on the planet while the firm from Cupertino just 5%. The rest is just crumbs with a little chunk based on Linux. Your average user has never embraced Linux, prefering tried and tested solutions for good or bad reasons.

Google has chosen its moment well. Microsoft is rattled. Apple is growing fast, nibbling away bit by by at market share. The new element is looking to the relatively uncharted territory of content consumption, music, video and mobile devices such as netbooks and smartphones. There is a window of possibility between the saturation and lassitude of Windows users and the desire for true change incarnated by Apple.

Less than 2%

When you facture in the financial power of Google, there’s a good chance that this third way will fully open up in the years to come. But why? What is Google hoping to bring to the OS market, by far the most complex and difficult in the industry?

The few details on Chrome OS (the name of the new OS) given by Google on its blog, give plenty of food for thought. Let’s begin with the unexpected: Google make the point that Chrome OS is not an adaption of the Android system for smartphones but rather a separate project altogether. This seems like a recognition of the failure of Android to federate enough user enthusiasm. Chrome, the internet search engine, is used by 30 million people worldwide according to figures given by Google. This seems to be an overestimate however if you go by internet site frequentation as measured by Net Applications. Chrome barely attained 2% before dropping back to 1.8% in May. One explanation could be that the browser has been downloaded 30 million times but hasn’t been used much.

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