Google Announces Google Chrome Operating System

[*LTD*]

And Eric Schmidt continues to sit on Apple's BoD. hmmmm, how does that work?

I've been questioning his presence on Apple's Board for over a year now, but this should be the icing on the cake. There are too many conflicts of interest at this point.

They're working together on this.

Apple continues to work the Premium end of the market, while Google goes after the bottom (and possibly mid-range) end. It's a smart tactic. Apple already has ties with Google.

The common enemy is MS.

You can bet Apple knew about this and is working with Eric Schmidt and co.

 

[Wikinerd]

If they can release something as crappy and shunned as Vista and still retain a 90% market share, what do you think will happen when they release a system that doesn't suck (Win7)?

Actually Windows dipped below 90% for quite some time now:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9121938/Windows_market_share_dives_below_90_for_first_time

And imo Win7 is merely Vista repackaged with less bugs... It's the SP2 that everyone deserves

 

[BongoBanger]

The fact that you posted indicates otherwise.

Oh you're just trolling? Gotcha.

 

[slackpacker]

Android this is android rebranded.... big deal.

 

[EmperorDarius]

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/07/pm_corner_office_google_schmidt/

Transcript:

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/...7/pm_corner_office_google_schmidt_transcript/

 

[50548]

Actually Windows dipped below 90% for quite some time now:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9121938/Windows_market_share_dives_below_90_for_first_time

And imo Win7 is merely Vista repackaged with less bugs... It's the SP2 that everyone deserves

Repackaged with the same crappy drivers, of course. Win7 will NEVER win back switchers, and will NOT be adopted en masse by corporations (they are just as happy with XP); it will just SLOW the trend against Windows in more personal segments of the market, which is vastly pro OS X now, with the absolute domination of the iPhone and the iPod.

 

[Wikinerd]

Oh you're just trolling? Gotcha.

Excuse me, but how does proving my point indicate that I'm trolling?

With the same logic I can say you're trolling by posting that Linux failed in the Netbook market *with no proof* after someone specifically said it didn't...

Or you just ran out of points so you just yell "troll"?

All I can say is, if you don't know enough to present your point, don't argue.

 

[sbarton]

Actually Windows dipped below 90% for quite some time now:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9121938/Windows_market_share_dives_below_90_for_first_time

And imo Win7 is merely Vista repackaged with less bugs... It's the SP2 that everyone deserves

Aye, that it is.

But the vast vast majority of Windows users are going to say "wow, glad I waited to upgrade my XP and didn't waste my money on Vista" vs. "wow, this company is really starting to become an unreliable technology partner, so maybe I should investigate alternatives.".

 

[Wikinerd]

Aye, that it is.

But the vast vast majority of Windows users are going to say "wow, glad I waited to upgrade my XP and didn't waste my money on Vista" vs. "wow, this company is really starting to become an unreliable technology partner, so maybe I should investigate alternatives.".

Seriously depends. If Win7 turns out to be another overhyped product like Vista then I'd say a significant portion will say the latter.

 

[DaveGee]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away this is exactly where Netscape was going before they totally lost all direction and its leadership...

Hey I was happy when I heard Netscape was going to do it and I'm happy to hear Google is going to do it... The difference is, Google has a much better long term track record and has slowly built up a talent pool that can actually have a chance to pull it off.

The future should be quite interesting thats for sure...

Will Apple take damage from this? Sure, I can't see this helping them... but I think Microsoft has a lot more to loose.

Dave

 

[str1f3]

This is just a Google-branded Linux distro. It does not threaten other OSes. People said the same about the Chrome web browser last year, yet today, Chrome has less market share than Safari. What is there for Apple to be scared of, exactly? Why would being open source kill off other Linux distros, which are also open source?

I disagree. The reason why Linux hasn't hit mainstream is because it is hard to fix when something goes wrong (which it likely will more than Windows). This is why even with the boon of netbooks Linux has not really increased marketshare. Chrome OS is essentially a browser which everyone knows how to use. Most open source programmers are going to develop for Chrome because that will be what most consumers use.

As for the Chrome browser, their browser share will increase because of this and to me Firefox is doomed. Firefox makes $50 million/year from Google search which is 99% of their revenue. How long do you think that will last with the Google OS being mostly built around the Chrome browser?

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Who saw this coming? I know I did!

Articlehttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/technology/companies/08operate.html?_r=1&hp

Not surprised.

 

[Anuba]

Actually Windows dipped below 90% for quite some time now:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9121938/Windows_market_share_dives_below_90_for_first_time

Those can hardly be worldwide numbers, Apple's marketshare is only in the 10% ballpark in the US. In Q1 2009, 7.49% of the computers sold in the US were Macs. The worldwide total marketshare was 3.36%, take the US out of that equation and you're under 3%.

Anyway, the issue wasn't whether they have 90% or not, the issue was their impending "death". They're dead when their marketshare is 0%. Not 10%, 20%, 50%, 75% or 85.6%.

 

[*LTD*]

Win7 will stop the bleeding, but I don't think it will win back switchers. What will hurt Apple's marketshare, though, is jacking up international prices in the middle of the worst recession in ages, which is precisely what they have done. When the numbers are in for international sales during Q2-Q4 2009 it's going to show that their 3% marketshare outside the US is shrinking.


Mhm. I lost count of the times that people proclaimed Apple dead in the past, it never happened but at least that claim had some merit, especially in the mid 90's. MS can't die. They'll be here along with the roaches and the rats when the rest of us are gone. If they can release something as crappy and shunned as Vista and still retain a 90% market share, what do you think will happen when they release a system that doesn't suck (Win7)?

It's 88.9% or thereabouts.

Nothing will happen. Apple will still be unique in the industry. MS will never make the entire widget. MS' model will never be as relaible, stable, or uniform as Apple's. The two have completely different approaches to how the individual should interact with tecnhology.

A few years ago MS was at 97%+ market share with Windows and over 90% with IE. We were all wondering where Apple would take PowerPC and whether Macs would survive in light of Apple becoming The iPod Company. Google was just a search engine and Apple rearranging the entire wireless industry was not only the furthest thing from people's minds, it was inconceivable.

It's an entirely different ballgame today. MS has performed horribly over the last few years - tumbling share value, a massive drop in Windows market share, IE dying, their inability to meaningfully penetrate the Premium-end of the market, with the competition only getting stronger. Analysts are already predicting that Windows 7 will do nothing to "save" the PC market. Make of that what you will (not all of them are right), but that idea has gone public, regardless.

Market share means very little when your brand image is in the basement and your biggest demographic are zombies and mid to lower-income consumers who could care less about how your product looks or functions. Wal Mart also rules the plastic lawn furniture market. Amazing, isn't it? Microsoft is no longer associated with Quality. THAT is the biggest loss a company could incur. Every ad they put out, every response to critics, simply reinforces that image. They have almost ZERO mindshare. And yet they have an astronomical R&D budget and far more employees than any one of their competitors.

 

[BongoBanger]

Excuse me, but how does proving my point indicate that I'm trolling?

I think it was the bit where you presented the opinions of another commenter as fact. Particularly when those 'facts' are actually utter nonsense.

Oh yeah, and you need to look up 'entrenchment'. You might also want to try 'familiarity' and, if you're feeling particularly bright today, 'appropriation' in the context of social constructionism.

 

[DELLsFan]

When it becomes a conflict of interest.

Fixed.

 

[Wikinerd]

Those can hardly be worldwide numbers, Apple's marketshare is only in the 10% ballpark in the US. In Q1 2009, 7.49% of the computers sold in the US were Macs. The worldwide total marketshare was 3.36%, take the US out of that equation and you're under 3%.

Anyway, the issue wasn't whether they have 90% or not, the issue was their impending "death". They're dead when their marketshare is 0%. Not 10%, 20%, 50%, 75% or 85.6%.

Net share counts unique visits, not every visit... And the 90% stat is international, not regional, but it's true that US citizens tend to be more active on the net...

Anyhow, if 7 turns out to be a flop then I'd say Windows shrink to around 60 or less. Macs, due to their niche, cannot go over 40%. Linux or some other commercial OS will fill the gap—this is where ChromeOS comes in.

 

[chris200x9]

If this will kill off most or all Linux Distros then thank god or google... There are too many distros of Linux no one wants to spend time making a app for 50 different distros that's why Linux has never taken off...

As for the new chrome os great, Microsoft needs at least one good competitor...

FUD! the reason it hasn't taken off is marketing and fear of change and no OEMs to back it up plain and simple...

 

[windywoo]

Actually Windows dipped below 90% for quite some time now:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9121938/Windows_market_share_dives_below_90_for_first_time

And imo Win7 is merely Vista repackaged with less bugs... It's the SP2 that everyone deserves

Net Applications measure browser statistics not OS share, and they only survey a very limited set of sites.

Service Packs rarely include new OS features and interface redesign. For some reason XP SP2 is taken as the standard rather than the exception.

To say Windows 7 is a service pack is just blinkered and ignorant.

 

[sbarton]

Seriously depends. If Win7 turns out to be another overhyped product like Vista then I'd say a significant portion will say the latter.

It's not. Others here may disagree, especially those who have never installed it, but at the OS level, they are catching up rapidly. There is still some clutter at the control panel compared to say the pref pane of OSX, but seriously, it's not that bad at all and as fast (in some areas faster) and as stable as OSX.

Where MS falls short right now IMO is their lifestyle apps but they are making a good play with their live.net products that if they polish and package correctly, could be the equivalent of iLife. They will never have the polish and out of the box simplicity of a Mac, but to be fair they don't really have to match that 100% to be successful.

My point here is that despite what we all kinda want, Apple would have to become a pretty radically different company to get much past where they are now in terms of market share. It's not a bad thing. Kirby, BMW, KitchenAid, etc, etc...premium brands that happily exist to serve those that appreciate something just a bit better but could never exist without all those other products that sucked.

 

[Riemann Zeta]

I agree with the tinfoil hat club on this one: there's no way in hell that I would use a google-designed "cloud" OS (or any cloud-based, non-local OS, where I have no control over where my files go). In addition to the obvious issues of privacy, security and lack of ownership of one's files, there is another fundamental flaw in the entire 'cloud computing' paradigm: what happens when one's connection to the 'cloud' is less than 100% optimal? All of the proposals for cloud-based operating environments assume that we all live in a magic land of elves, fairies and ultra-high bandwidth, zero-latency connections with guaranteed 100% uptime.

In my opinion, the dumb terminal died for a reason--there is no need to resurrect it.

 

[Wikinerd]

I think it was the bit where you presented the opinions of another commenter as fact. Particularly when those 'facts' are actually utter nonsense.

There are facts in that post that you cannot ignore. Microsoft can literally "scare" manufacturers into distributing their operating system; licensing agreements from the manufacturer standpoint can be tough— particularly if there's 20 others to fill your place if you refuse.

And the fact that manufacturers *did* "customize" the distros then say they failed is correct.

Lastly, while familiarity is important, it appears that it's not that strong a bond if the manufacturer can establish how easy it is to use it—like Apple did with the Mac, and how the Mac market share doubled...

Oh yeah, and you need to look up 'entrenchment'. You might also want to try 'familiarity' and, if you're feeling particularly bright today, 'appropriation' in the context of social constructionism.

I did look up 'entrenchment'. Which of these do you mean?:
http://www.google.com/search?q=define:entrenchment

And 'appropriation... I still fail to see how these are relevant:
http://www.google.com/search?q=define:appropriation

"Appropriation:a deliberate act of acquisition of something, often without the permission of the owner"
Or do you mean that the Windows "appropriated" the consumers?

Oh, and by the way, I'd suggest you look up "opinion" and "argument" so that you don't confuse the two.

 

[SPUY767]

I too have been using Windows since pre 3.11, and I have ONCE seen the sort of issues you talk about. Ironically, I've had more issues with botched uninstalls from google products on OS X (Picasa) then I ever have had on Windows...

If I were you I would consider myself very lucky. Not three weeks ago my dad's laptop was pissing and moaning about a DLL file being gone after he had uninstalled some stupid browser toolbar.

 

[*LTD*]

Net Applications measure browser statistics not OS share, and they only survey a very limited set of sites.

Service Packs rarely include new OS features and interface redesign. For some reason XP SP2 is taken as the standard rather than the exception.

To say Windows 7 is a service pack is just blinkered and ignorant.

Warmed-over Vista. Microsoft says so.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/...icleId=9117399

"[Windows 7], it's Windows Vista, a lot better," said Ballmer during a 45-minute question-and-answer session hosted by a pair of Gartner Inc. analysts at the research firm's annual Symposium ITxpo in Orlando today. The interview was later posted as a webcast on the Gartner site.

Ballmer was responding to a question from Gartner's Neil MacDonald, who asked how Microsoft would walk the line between doing too much with Windows 7 -- thus risking the kind of compatibility problems that plagued Vista early in its career -- and too little, which might give customers an excuse to pass on the upgrade.

"Windows Vista is good; Windows 7 is Windows Vista with cleanup in user interface [and] improvements in performance," Ballmer said. "Look, I'm not encouraging anybody to wait, I'd go ahead and deploy it right away. We didn't have to go in an incompatible direction to make big strides forward."

 

[Wikinerd]

It's not. Others here may disagree, especially those who have never installed it, but at the OS level, they are catching up rapidly. There is still some clutter at the control panel compared to say the pref pane of OSX, but seriously, it's not that bad at all and as fast (in some areas faster) and as stable as OSX.

Where MS falls short right now IMO is their lifestyle apps but they are making a good play with their live.net products that if they polish and package correctly, could be the equivalent of iLife. They will never have the polish and out of the box simplicity of a Mac, but to be fair they don't really have to match that 100% to be successful.

My point here is that despite what we all kinda want, Apple would have to become a pretty radically different company to get much past where they are now in terms of market share. It's not a bad thing. Kirby, BMW, KitchenAid, etc, etc...premium brands that happily exist to serve those that appreciate something just a bit better.

I recall during Vista's beta there was nothing but praise for it. It was after mass adoption when the problems start to pile up.

And yes, Apple's niche will prevent it from breaking, say, 30%, because Apple's computers are not meant for those who just want one that's cheap and usually gets the job done. If Microsoft fails to deliver then they will turn to something else, probably commercial, which is what I see as the reason for the ChromeOS to be developed—quite a lot of potential *if* 7 flops.