Google PC will start in seven seconds or less

http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN1917994320091120

* Google Chrome operating system is nearly instant on

* Chrome is cloud-based software - stores data on Web

* Says Chrome will run initially on certain netbooks (Recasts lead; adds Google comments, analyst comments)

By Alexei Oreskovic

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov 19 (Reuters) - New Google Inc (GOOG.O) software will start up a computer as fast as a television can be turned on, the search company said on Thursday as it showed off its Chrome operating system designed for PCs that do their work on the Web.

Google gave the first public look at its Chrome OS four months after declaring its intention of developing the PC's main software, a move that pits it directly against Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Apple Inc (AAPL.O).

True to Google's Internet-pedigree, the Chrome OS resembles a Web browser more than it does a traditional computer operating system like Microsoft Windows, matching Google's ambition to drive people to the Web -- where they can see Google ads.

Google said the software will initially be available by the holiday season of 2010 on low-cost netbooks that meet Google's hardware specifications, such as using only memory chips to store data instead of slower hard drives, the current standard.

Netbooks running Chrome OS will only be able to run Web applications and the user's data will automatically be stored on the Web in the so-called cloud of Internet servers, Google executives said at an event at the company's Mountain View, California headquarters on Thursday.

"It's basically a Web browsing machine," said Altimeter Group analyst Charlene Li, referring to the netbooks powered by Chrome OS.

Such a machine is made for a world of near-constant, extremely fast Web connection, without the type of software that made Microsoft famous, since most of the work would be done by big machines on the Web which take directions and send information to relatively uncomplicated devices like a Chrome PC.

Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management for Google's Chrome OS, said that computers running Chrome OS will be able to start in less than seven seconds.

"From the time you press boot you want it to be like a TV: You turn it on and you should be on the Web using your applications," Pichai said.

MORE WEB USE DRIVES MORE GOOGLE ADS

Google said it is giving away the software for free, similar to its Android smartphone software, with the idea that improving the Web experience will ultimately benefit its Internet search advertising business, which generated roughly $22 billion in revenue in 2008.

"They're doing it to get further and further entrenched in whatever people are doing to go online, whether that's a browser, an operating system or in applications," said Todd Greenwald, an analyst with Signal Hill Group.

"If Chrome is the OS then the attach (access) rate on Google searches will be a lot higher," he said.

But analysts noted that the differences between conventional PCs and Chrome OS netbooks might give some consumers pause.

"If they view it from the conventional perspective, then it falls short," Gartner analyst Ray Valdes said of Chrome OS, citing its lack of compatibility with traditional software and its limited offline capabilities.

Google officials said Chrome OS netbooks will be able to provide some functions when offline, but that the product was primarily designed to be connected to the Internet.

But Valdes said if Google can deliver on the products' promises, such as fast performance, then consumers may view Chrome OS netbooks as distinct class of products with attractive benefits.

"I think that it's initially going to appeal to small subset of the general consumer population," said Valdes. "The question is can they build on that and expand that over time."

Google made the computer code for the Chrome OS available to outside developers on Thursday, allowing developers to tinker with the software and potentially design new applications to run alongside it.

With Chrome, Google is seeking to challenge the dominance of Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Windows, which runs on nine out of 10 personal computers.

The Chrome OS also challenges makers of traditional, desktop software, including Microsoft and its lucrative Office suite of productivity software, since Chrome OS only runs Web applications.

Google's Pichai, noted during a demonstration on Thursday, that Chrome OS-based PCs would be interoperable with Web-based versions of software, such as Microsoft's online version of its Excel spreadsheet.

Google said all data in Chrome will automatically be housed in the so-called cloud, or on external servers, but also cached on the computer's internal hardware to boost performance.

If a person loses their netbook, Google Engineering Director Matt Papakipos explained, they can buy a new one, log in and within seconds have a machine with access to all the same data as their previous device.

"What really makes this a cloud device is that all the user data is synced back to the cloud in real time," said Papakipos.

Shares of Mountain View, California-based Google fell $3.66 to $572.99 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. (Additional reporting by Ian Sherr) (Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic, writing by Gabriel Madway; Editing by Bernard Orr and Carol Bishopric)

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/168058/five_reasons_google_chrome_os_will_fail.html


As smart and popular as Google may be, the success of Chrome OS is not a fait accompli. Sometimes the smartest and most popular kid at school simply falls on his face. Google Chrome OS could very well turn out to be that kid

Will Chrome OS be the promising upstart that fails to thrive in the real world? It's much too early to tell, but here are five reasons that Chrome OS could fail:

(For an opposing view, read "5 Reasons Chrome OS Will Succeed" by my esteemed, but misguided, colleague Jared Newman.)

1. Netbooks aren't the world
Netbooks may be important, but they remain a tiny part of the world's PC sales. Google's bet is predicated on strong demand for weak computers. It also takes advantage of a kink in Microsoft's armor: MS actually needs to sell its operating systems while Google can, for now, afford to just give Chrome away.

However, operating systems have been given away for years now and Microsoft has persisted. Linux accounts for about 1 percent of the OS market today, and has already lost the battle for netbooks. And there is a reason for that: It isn't Windows.

Google is counting on users of small computers not being tied to specific applications and being willing to accept low cost and, perhaps, ease of use over a more familiar and more powerful environment.

Some doubtless are, but enough to really challenge Microsoft? Not anytime soon.

2. Microsoft Can Shoot to Kill
I'm Steve Ballmer and here's what I say: Windows 7 NB (for netbooks) will be free through all of 2010. Starting right now. Anything Google can do, Microsoft can--at least theoretically--do better. Google wants to give away a netbook operating system? So can Microsoft.

It will be hard for regulators to complain as Microsoft is now reacting to a powerful competitor's frontal assault on Windows. And placing and end date on the freebie--which can always be extended--allows MS to charge once Chrome is vanquished.

But, does Microsoft even have to do this? No. There is strong evidence--Linux on netbooks, for example--that Microsoft can still successfully charge for what other's give away.

Do not underestimate what can happen when Microsoft gets mad. The company's biggest enemy in recent years has been itself. A new external threat may help Ballmer & Co. sharpen their thinking and respond like an angry immune system to isolate and overwhelm a foreign organism, like Google.

3. Google Docs is the best they can do
So far, Googles efforts at creating cloud applications have been pretty feeble. Look at all the things Google Docs don't do that people need, at least occasionally. Google needs to prove that applications-as-a-service can match those users install. So far, it hasn't come close.

Google's cloud computing strategy so far is "applications lite," which may be fine for occasional use, just like a netbook, but don't meet enough needs to be a real solution.

4. Chrome isn't a "real" operating system
If I were building Chrome, I'd do everything possible to hide the operating system and hope users don't notice what's been left out.

But is that possible? At what point must something that looks and acts like an operating system be presented to users? How much functionality can be sacrificed to provide ease-of-use? Google describes Chrome almost as though an operating system can do all its work behind-the-scenes. I am not sure this is as possible as Google might like to believe.

The closer Chrome comes to being a "real" OS, the more Linux-y it will become. Oops! A one-way ticket on the Voyage to the Bottom of the Market awaits.

5. Compatibility matters
Compatibility, both hardware and software was the major reason why the world anointed Microsoft its King of Computing. You may not remember the days of incompatible word processors, spreadsheets, and file systems, but I do.

Microsoft became a monopoly because a single vendor could best meet the needs of the largest number customers by imposing standards. Customers voted Microsoft the winner and they like not having to worry about compatibility issues.

My sense is that Chrome will be a lowest-common-denominator operating system for computers so small and inexpensive as to be essentially disposable.

It is true such a computer will do 80 percent of what I need to accomplish each day, but the other 20 percent requires specialized software, sometimes specialized hardware, and maybe more horsepower than a netbook can possess.

Compatibility really matters and while Chrome's world may be complete as far as it reaches, there is always more. That's why Windows, frustrating as it may be, will prevail. The "20" in the 80/20 Rule matters a lot more than proponents of "80 is good enough" like to think.

The example I use, and this applies equally to Macintosh, is the large number of specialized apps that exist only for Windows. They could be written for Mac or Linux but because Windows is so dominant, developers see no reason to build for other platforms.

I am about to buy a netbook primarily to replace a Windows laptop for carry-around use with an application that doesn't require a lot of horsepower, but for which only Windows software is available.


Chrome will have to become more popular than I can today imagine for this software to be ported over anytime soon. Some people just need Windows and it will be a long time before Chrome can negate that.

I am not predicting Chrome's doom even before it starts shipping, but it's important to think about the challenges any new operating system faces. They are considerable and, so far, no one has come close to clearing them. (Even Microsoft, some will say).

http://www.pcworld.com/article/182743/five_reasons_google_chrome_os_will_succeed.html
Five Reasons Google Chrome OS will Succeed
Jared Newman

Nov 20, 2009 12:30 pm

Google's Chrome OS doesn't signal the apocalypse for Apple and Microsoft, but that doesn't mean the operating system won't succeed when it arrives next year. Just like the Chrome Web browser, Google's carving out a small slice of the market for people who want the company's buzzwords of speed, security and simplicity. Over time, the legion of Chrome OS fans will grow, and Google will look at its operating system as a success, not a failure, as my colleague Tony Bradley argues.

Editor's note: PC World contributor Tony Bradley takes an alternate point of view in his BizFeed blog "Five Reasons the Google OS will Flop". Think they are both wrong? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Here are five reasons Google Chrome OS will succeed:

Price

Google still hasn't said how much Chrome OS machines will cost, but there are a couple things to remember: First, the operating system is free, so netbook manufacturers can dodge the licensing costs of Windows machines. Also, Chrome OS machines will run on solid state drives, which could drive the price up, but because there's hardly any local storage involved, the size of these drives--and, therefore, the cost--will be minimal, and will decrease over time with no need to boost capacity.

Niche Market

How do you measure success, anyway? Tony argues that the Chrome Web browser hasn't caught fire, but that doesn't mean it isn't loved by the people who use it (myself included). I'm particularly interested to see if the operating system winds up in smartbooks, which are ultramobile PCs running on Arm-based chips. If that category takes off, Chrome OS could get a spot on the ground floor. Besides, Google said Chrome OS is intended, at present, for secondary machines. Even if people don't flock to it (and they won't), that doesn't make the operating system a failure.

The Cloud Rules

Eventually, Google will convince people that their data is safe in the cloud, mostly because Google users' personal information is already up there. Yes, you're in trouble if there's some massive server failure, but what are the odds of that compared to your netbook getting stolen or broken? I don't religiously back up my data, and I've suffered as a result, but I've always been able to recover invoices and other vital documents from the cloud.

Potential

Tony says you can't run Photoshop on the Web, but has he tried Pixlr? When Google announced Chrome OS last July, the company said that for application developers, "the Web is the platform." I'm most excited for what gets built around Chrome OS, anticipating the need for more Web applications. I look at things like OnLive, a cloud gaming service that isn't browser-based, but does all the high-end computing on its own servers, and wonder how long it'll take before anyone with a Web browser can access a program like that. When that day comes, Chrome OS will be a game changer.

Foresight

Google's imagining a world where all your computing is done through the browser. We're not there yet, but it's happening. I don't need my own computer to do much of anything, because everything's possible on the Web. Slowly, that'll become true for more users, and they'll look to Chrome OS for a simpler, faster experience.

fafhrd wrote:Can it run WoW and Dragon Age though?

Makaijin wrote:The ome major disadvantage in my eyes is that it requires an internet connection to be able to use the applications. For work I carry around a Core 2 powered notebook. But when I'm on holiday I carry around my netbook instead, because it's light and not as much of a headache to replace of i was ever unfortunate enough. I don't know about the US, but on the European side as well as the Far-East, internet access in hotels and public places can cost as much as a well-off banquet. These costs can very well add up.

So unless internet access, especially wireless becomes widely available with dirt cheap prices globally, I don't see how Cloud computing on cheap netbooks will ever take off. Reason I say this is, recently I've been commuting regularly on long train journeys. I've noticed a current trend in that over 60% of laptops I see people using are netbooks. I as walk by to go to the toilet/buy refreshment, all of the netbook users are all either watching some downloaded movie or doing some basic word processing.

The whole point of a netbook is cheap computing on the move. If i wanted a cheap computer in my house I'd get a dirt cheap pre-built Dell or Lenovo which for the same price of a netbook can get me a more processing power with a bigger screen. In this case Chrome OS with cloud computing will shine mainly because of a more stable access to the internet. With the Chrome OS you are at the mercy of an available internet connection if you plan to do anything that resembles anywhere near half serious.

Threatco wrote:What's wrong with cloud data storage?

Dorvan wrote:Certainly I expect Google have some sort of enterprise hosting solution in the future. Of course, it's not like a corporate network storage is some radical concept in the enterprise domain....so I'm not sure where you're seeing the potential in the enterprise case.

Makaijin wrote:The ome major disadvantage in my eyes is that it requires an internet connection to be able to use the applications.

Dorvan wrote:

Threatco wrote:What's wrong with cloud data storage?

You're trusting someone else to hold all of your data, which present both security and reliability issues. These may or may not be important to you depending on your use case and the company that's hosting the storage.

hoho wrote:

Makaijin wrote:The ome major disadvantage in my eyes is that it requires an internet connection to be able to use the applications.

Ever heard of running web applications in offline-mode?
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/ ... -docs.html

hoho wrote:To be honest I'm quite sure that storing your data in some external server is significantly more reliable and secure than keeping it on your HDD or memory stick.