Google’s war against Microsoft

It was originally thought of as a BIG EVENT where Google was to announce their killer PC OS to directly go after Microsoft Windows. But ‘the kill show’ didn’t really happen. What DID happen last week was Google updating the market on their Chrome operating system for laptops and desktops. The first crop of computers powered by Chrome will start selling in mid-2011. Google’s CEO Schmidt believes Chrome OS is the third viable real operating system, one that breaks from the past, and looks into a cloud-services centric future that would re-define the idea of what an OS should be.

With Chrome, the Analysts are saying that Google has done a good job of executing on the idea of a “network computer,” offering a suite of cloud services. They are partnering with Acer and Samsung and they have new computers that will be handed out "to qualified users, developers, schools and businesses" (if in the U.S., you can apply- https://services.google.com/fb/forms/cr48advanced/). They'll be black and have no branding, logos or stickers. But Google did say they'd have 12.1-inch screens, full-size keyboards and touchpads.

Watching the YouTube videos, it does near instant boot and essentially instant resume. A guest mode feature makes the device easy to share among several users by retaining separate user profiles. And an offline mode allows users to continue to use Web apps like Google Docs without connectivity and even if other users with connectivity are working in the same document. Seamless auto-updates and application sand-boxing keep the device. Finally, the machine features built-in data connectivity that allows users to easily switch between WiFi and 3G.

Google is running the Chrome OS pilot program with a handful of partners like American Airlines, Logitech and Virgin America. Applications will run mostly inside the browser, making the web — not the desktop — into the computer’s default operating system.

There seems to be merits to the cloud focus. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. So, in a nutshell, here’s what Chrome OS offers:

· The grand idea is to make Chrome OS to PCs what Android and iPhone OS is to ultra-portables.

· When you log on to your system, you’re also logged into Gmail, Calendar and so on.

· Goal is to get Chrome OS to launch as fast as your TV does

· The plan is to not to go head to head with Windows or OSX in the immediate future. As with all other “launch-early, iterate often” Google products, Chrome OS will woo devices that are smaller than laptops but larger than phones and grow from there.