Friday Evening Links > Will the Chrome OS be a game changer?

reply to Z80A

Re: Will the Chrome OS be a game changer?

Parallels VM. It ran fine but its real netbook OS competition like Windows 7 starter and Ubuntu Linux are simply superior in every way and are getting better as netbooks become more powerful. Even with additional apps, it is very weak and being largely cloud based makes it even weaker. Google is better off porting Android to small devices not the other way around.

Chrome OS was a good idea when Celerons were the CPU of choice but the newest Atoms are getting faster and faster as are their graphics bits. New Atom N270 and N450 netbooks are very speedy and don't need a gutted OS to run well. People are expecting fuller more capable operating systems with truckloads of apps like Android, iPhone OS and Windows 7 Starter.

So then what to use a gutted OS like Chrome on? The new iPad competitors like the Eee-Pad? Asus is opting for Windows 7 because the newest technology is fast enough and power efficient enough to do it. Would it be even simpler devices? For that Android with its exponentially growing user and developer base is a better option to hit the ground running with.

Chrome OS has no place now and certainly won't have a place next year. For anything like a netbook or iPad it's Windows 7 or Linux and for anything smaller it's Android.

Thanks for reply. It looks like Microsoft's Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie thinks that Chrome OS will eclipse Android and eventually replace it. I hate to disagree with such an eminent authority, but I suspect Android(in smartphones & tablets) will become the dominant OS from Google.
»mobile.venturebeat.com/2010/06/0···-future/

For tablets I don't see Linux doing much of anything just as it is nothing in the desktop space. In tablets I see only two operating systems seriously competing, Windows 7 and iPhone OS. New devices like the Eee-Pad running some power sipping dual core Atom are what will compete with iPad and Atom already runs Windows 7 beautifully with 10 hour battery life and Windows 7 already has great touch support. And of course Windows 7 supports multitasking (obviously), runs Flash, runs Office, runs games, runs eReaders, runs everything virtually everyone wants to run. Companies like Asus aren't going to want to reinvent the wheel. They're in the hardware business, not trying to convince people to switch software business.

WebOS may be technically compelling but it won't ever eclipse Windows 7 and won't penetrate the Cupertino reality distortion field. HP is big but not big enough to catch up to Apple and Microsoft in touch, developer base and hype.