Google’s Chrome browser seems destined to be another flop, with its market share, so much as it is, steadily declining and users decrying its inability to integrate with much-needed apps and add-ons. While Google has always had its eye on Microsoft in the battle of the geeks, its boldest posture is surely Chrome OS. This is Google’s interpretation of how the operating system of tomorrow will integrate with the latest hardware and how it will change us all. We think it is an idea ahead of its time or worse, based on poor objectivity.
With Chrome OS, Google is trying to convert the desktop machine into a glorified web browser. Isn’t the existing version of Chrome supposed to be just such a browser? Google seems to think that desktop apps will very swiftly become a thing of the past and that everyone will jump onto the idea of cloud computing. Like we said, too far ahead of its time. We all surf the web more often than we allocate time to any other task on our computers, but there are still numerous processes and programs, accounting software versions, entertainment applications and so on that we use quite readily at our stations.
It looks like Google is firing a shot across the bows of Microsoft, but this effort is hardly likely to make a dent in the armor, let alone sink the ship. Microsoft operating systems represent an institution that will be very difficult to crack. Windows Vista may have been rightly denigrated, but 7, the latest effort, appears to be much more palatable and people are more likely to jump from XP to 7 than get into bed with Google. Any laptops, notebooks or other machinery that comes bundled with a Chrome OS is likely to lead to raised eyebrows, if not be returned to the merchant upon discovery and we think that Google has got a considerable hill to climb. Look at Apple’s intense marketing effort, currently trying to persuade us to change from Windows to Mac as an example.
Let’s face it, Google is not known for its quality of support. Indeed, when they rolled out Checkout, support was simply not available, much to the chagrin and amazement of potential vendors. Such a lack of consideration could be catastrophic for the company if it materialized during the release of an operating system.
Despite its undoubted stature and might within the technological world, Google seems to be relying too much on its name and its “hip-ness” when it comes to the very philosophy of a Chrome OS-reliant computer. The company has already said that it will only allow the operating system to run on referenced hardware, further restricting its overall appeal.
Do you think that Google’s turn has come?
Adam Toren