Google Chrome OS: Do you believe the hype?Nov 14, 2009 12:49

As with most products that have the name Google attached to them, Google Chrome OS is generating a lot of hype–and, if this TechCrunch post is true, then Google Chrome OS will launch within the week and we’ll finally get to see if it will live up to the hype.

I’m curious how Google’s attempt at pushing its own OS will pan out, but I’m not ready to join the choir singing how Google is once again starting a revolution and changing the OS as we know it. I like many of Google’s products, but I didn’t feel the need to switch to the Google Chrome browser, and so far I haven’t really found a compelling reason to regularly use my Google Wave (though of course it’s still just a preview).

Google has achieved such a stature in the tech industry that for some people it commands as much admiration and downright fanboyishness as Apple or Nintendo–companies that are media darlings and who have legions of followers, some of whom believe their idol can do no wrong.

Don’t get me wrong: I agree with what Google is saying that it’s all about the Web now, and that ironically operating systems were designed in an era before the advent of the Web. So yup, they want to rethink the OS with Google Chrome OS just as they want to rethink e-mail with Google Wave.

What I don’t get, however, is why Google needs to push its own OS. By their own argument, they’re saying the OS is no longer that important. They’re saying most PC users just want to be able to check their e-mail and connect to the Web. Well, actually that’s not true. If that’s all I want to do, I use my mobile phone. I don’t need a Netbook to do that.

Obviously, Google wants to take advantage of the surge in demand for Netbooks. The funny thing about Netbooks, however, is that they’re becoming more and more bloated compared to the first generation of devices. Windows XP has been the OS for many of these devices, because you’re talking about mainstream consumers who want a familiar desktop OS rather than a dressed-up version of Linux. Google Chrome OS is positioning itself as an alternative to Windows XP (of course, Windows 7 is out and Microsoft claims it will also run well on Netbooks) in the Netbook space, supposedly offering more functionality than Android while also being able to run on different platforms.

But why push its own OS when Linux-based OSes are already available, and Google Chrome OS itself will be based on the Linux kernel? The supposed advantage is that it will be integrated with the Google Chrome browser.

While I’m curious to see how Google Chrome OS will fare, I also think all this talk of a new OS War is just hype, and that the world has moved on from the era of browser wars. If Google is rethinking e-mail and the OS, maybe tech media should also rethink the way it covers the industry and move away from the old riffs on the OS wars, browser battles, and Microsoft as the Evil Empire (wow, look at all those war motifs). The Web is no longer the playground of geeks, and computers are used by ordinary people everyday. Many mobile phones are computers in their own right, much more powerful than the desktops of those bygone years. Even handheld consoles like the PSP are powerful computers.

In the end, the average consumer really couldn’t care less about a device’s operating system, or architecture, or microprocessor. They’ll care about what they can do with it, whether it’s easy to use, and if it looks good. So if people like the iPhone, they’ll use its OS. If people love their Nokia or their Sony Ericsson, they’ll use whatever is the OS of these phones. Sure, technology is the underlying enabler for these devices, but the point is that they are supposed to be invisible to the consumers, just as they are in other appliances.

Then again, this is Google. Maybe they’ll have better luck with this than what they’ve done with Google Chrome so far. At the very least, it’s another choice for computer users.