Wed, 08 Jul 09

Chrome OS

Google has tremendous amount of talent in terms of engineers and strategists. And in their 20% time they build pretty amazing stuff.

Over the years, speculation had built up on the Google desktop OS. (There is already a super-scalable server version, but that is not for general release I suppose).

Now it’s official. This is a great opportunity for those lucky OS engineers refactoring and building a clean, modern OS that matches today’s most common usage. Good luck.

I write this with mixed feeling because Google is working with several OEMs to build x86 and ARM versions. Unlike Linux, which piggybacked on existing computer infrastructure (and hence x86), Google will probably intervene aggressively to find the right price points and distribution channels. So, its the erstwhile rumored duopoly that Google is going after, not just an OS monopoly.

Let the marketing and turf wars begin.

Wed, 08 Jul 09