Duck, Bill...

Long before the browser Google Chrome was released there were many people that speculated about Google releasing their own operating system. There was even a number of screenshots that claimed to be of this mythical creation. Now it's happened, Google have announced their operating system will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.

They've also stated that they're working with OEM's to release a number of netbooks next year and that the OS will run on the x86 architecture and on ARM. I'm quite surprised they haven't skipped past x86 and gone straight to 64-bit. From the sounds of it Google Chrome is becoming like IE in that it will become the windowing system and the applications will be web applications (meaning they'll run on Windows, etc. as well). Hopefully they won't have any anti-trust issues rise from this just as Microsoft had.

It does sound fairly innovative, but I wonder how they'll fair against the giants - Windows, OS X, Ubuntu (and the other distros such as Red Hat) as essentially it will still be just Linux distribution and probably won't be able to target the larger audiences due to most games being unable to run on it.

I'm also quite surprised they've called it Google Chrome OS though I can understand why they've done it. I guess further down the line the line between OS and browser will become blurred and so they'll be able to just drop the OS part of the title and people will still recognise the name as being an Operating System.

Now I hope this doesn't sound like I'm belittling the achievements that Google will no doubt make with this browser. I believe it is a stop towards a better connected future where everything has connectivity and having a browser where everything revolves around the online world is a step towards that dream.

Looking back at various concept videos that Mozilla Labs did for connectivity and sharing of information is something I think Google could really go with and Google Wave could be the start of something which turns an operating into something more, something which has socialising and connectivity as it's sole motivation. I agree with a friend who commented that Chrome OS could be what sells the concept of Google Wave, it and the rest of Google's products could be the start of something amazing.

Of course though it could be the start of Google's plans for world domination. If they've read the villain's handbook then they'll know that they knew an elaborate base - such as inside an active volcano, and they'll need to start telling everyone their schemes. Joking of course. Or am I?!

Microsoft is undoubtedly reeling with the announcement of Google Chrome OS, and Apple should be concerned, too.

If the Google Chrome OS is as promised, it has the potential to get me, a diehard Apple OSX user, to pick up a netbook That's a slippery slope towards OS agnosticism which causes more problems for Apple than MS since they rely upon the love of their OS for hardware purchases.

Although, personally I'd never get away with using a Web-focused OS on my primary machine because of the types of applications I use to do my job, I can certainly manage with WebApps and GoogleDocs for 90% of what I do on a computer in my spare time. As WebApps improve and proliferate, and wifi and 3g for notebooks becomes increasingly prevalent, I think less and less people will truly need anything more than a WebOS on a day to day basis.

Google tends to over-deliver and I'm pretty much sold, sight unseen. I also think this OS will tie in nicely with the recently announced Google Wave, which should provide a nice boost to reaching critical mass with that product, which has a similar launch timeline.

Well played, Google.