Google, the benevolent giant of the internets announced they're releasing a desktop OS.
This is an interesting concept. Google's idea is to seamlessly integrate web and desktop applications into the OS. In theory making it lightweight and inherently very usable.But...why??Google already has an OS - Android! Developed from Linux and geared towards Smartphone’s, PDAs and a soon to be released Netbook variation.Why is the internet giant abandoning one fledgling OS for a brand new one?Not that I’m not excited about the prospect. If it’s made by Google, history would dictate its going to be good.Google is not successful because it monopolizes, because it tramples on the competition, steals code from competitors, and beats users into submission with the barbaric clubs of EULAs. Google is not Goliath in the typical sense. No end user has a vendetta against the big G. Google is successful (and vastly so) because:It makes good stuffEverything it offers to users is free or open sourceThese are the two principles which account for near 100% share of searches, the phenomenal uptake of Google Mail, Google Reader, Blogger, Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Desktop... etc etcGoogle's revenue comes from targeted and intelligent advertising. Adverts designed not to piss off the end user, but actually be relevant and occasionally useful. Revenue is paid per click from the advertisers.The end user has no fiscal interaction with Google, but ultimately Google's continuance is dependent on the end user actually visiting its sites and using its software. Google must make good kit to ensure user's actually user it and therefore attract advertisers.From this premise, I think it’s safe to assume the Google OS could be a good thing.
The world may not really need yet another Linux distro, but I'd welcome the chance to play around with this one. Most of the Linux flavours don't have a multibillion dollar software and web colossus backing them up. Maybe this could be a gateway to usable open source OS, of truly free, simple and clean computing. Maybe this could be Ubuntu that just works without assuming an advanced qualification in IT from its users.High hopes for it I know, but with Google they tend to surpass expectations.
This is an interesting concept. Google's idea is to seamlessly integrate web and desktop applications into the OS. In theory making it lightweight and inherently very usable.But...why??Google already has an OS - Android! Developed from Linux and geared towards Smartphone’s, PDAs and a soon to be released Netbook variation.Why is the internet giant abandoning one fledgling OS for a brand new one?Not that I’m not excited about the prospect. If it’s made by Google, history would dictate its going to be good.Google is not successful because it monopolizes, because it tramples on the competition, steals code from competitors, and beats users into submission with the barbaric clubs of EULAs. Google is not Goliath in the typical sense. No end user has a vendetta against the big G. Google is successful (and vastly so) because:It makes good stuffEverything it offers to users is free or open sourceThese are the two principles which account for near 100% share of searches, the phenomenal uptake of Google Mail, Google Reader, Blogger, Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Desktop... etc etcGoogle's revenue comes from targeted and intelligent advertising. Adverts designed not to piss off the end user, but actually be relevant and occasionally useful. Revenue is paid per click from the advertisers.The end user has no fiscal interaction with Google, but ultimately Google's continuance is dependent on the end user actually visiting its sites and using its software. Google must make good kit to ensure user's actually user it and therefore attract advertisers.From this premise, I think it’s safe to assume the Google OS could be a good thing.
The world may not really need yet another Linux distro, but I'd welcome the chance to play around with this one. Most of the Linux flavours don't have a multibillion dollar software and web colossus backing them up. Maybe this could be a gateway to usable open source OS, of truly free, simple and clean computing. Maybe this could be Ubuntu that just works without assuming an advanced qualification in IT from its users.High hopes for it I know, but with Google they tend to surpass expectations.