The Great Debate UK
Google calls time on the Age of Windows
-Tom Dunmore is Brand Director & Editor-in-Chief at Stuff magazine – Stuff has over 1 million readers worldwide. The opinions expressed are his own.-
Google announced on Wednesday that it was developing its own computer operating system. It will be secure, fast, lightweight and – most of all – free. And it presents the biggest challenge yet to the long-standing dominance of Windows.
The idea behind Google ChromeOS is nothing new – it’s built on a Linux foundation and will no doubt share many of the features of other open-source operating systems. But Google is the only computing brand with more might than Microsoft: it’s trusted, and has a proven track record of building brilliant, free services, from search to instant messaging.
Indeed, Google has been busily chipping away at Microsoft’s market for some time, with the Google Docs suite of in-browser applications providing a decent (and free) alternative to Microsoft Office, while the Android mobile phone software has pulled the rug from under Windows Mobile.
Microsoft’s attempts to strike back by stealing some of Google’s lucrative internet search advertising market have had little success – hence the rebranding of MSN as Live search, and the subsequent replacement of Live search with Bing.
But Microsoft’s core business is the Windows operating system that powers nine in ten of the world’s computers. By launching against Windows, Google is declaring out-and-out war – and doing so when Microsoft is at its weakest.
I think a lot of home computing users would welcome a solid competitor to Windows. The attitude at Microsoft is altogether too preditory and anti-customer to suit me, and their operating system software is weak, buggy, expensive, and VERY vulnerable at best.
I happily anticipate a new, linux-based op system that supports existing windows applications as well as the many good freeware apps out there. And I happily anticipate a solid competitor for Microsoft. Who knows? — with a true competitor, perhaps even Microsoft will become customer-oriented.
If Google (or anyone else) comes up with a solid new operating system which is easy to use, and compatible with existing windows applications, I will be among the first to give it a try — and I’d expect many others will react the same way.