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... don't mean to be unenthusiastic , but...
I remember some years back when everyone was really
happy that someone was going to break IBM's stranglehold on IT. Not DEC, not HP,
not ICL (remember them?), not even the 'upstart' Apple - another
'upstart' in fact, called Microsoft.
Is there not a slight danger of Google just becoming the
next Microsoft, but one that owns the web rather than the desktop?
Des
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 4:16
PM
Subject: Re: [Fsuk-manchester] google
plan new OS?
> Hi,
>
> What are your opinions on the
announcement that Google is to create a
> netbook\desktop open-source OS
to compete with MS?
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8139711.stm
>
>
Aidy
I think it's excellent news. It's going to be open source, based
on the
Linux kernel according to some, although the BBC news item above
and
Google's own blog at
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html
don't mention Linux at all. But Google's Engineering Director _is_ called
Linus. :o)
It's the best hope yet to break the MS stranglehold on
the PC. IBM didn't
manage it with OS/2, probably because of the PS/2
architecture and their
licensing approach. Apple didn't manage it,
possibly because their OS is so
tightly linked to their own hardware but
also because it's expensive gear.
Linux is gaining ground but very slowly,
partly, I feel, because it's so
fragmented, with dozens of different
distros.
To quote the Google blog, "We are going back to the basics and
completely
redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so
that users
don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates.
It should
just work." That's exactly what most users want. A
toaster, to use someone
else's analogy.
If Google can apply their
muscle to the problem, including getting
manufacturers like Canon to write
non-Windows device drivers for their
products, it's going to be in with a
chance.
Chris
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