If there is anyone bold enough with a large bank account who can compete with Microsoft it’s got to be Google.
Maybe this obvious choice was the reason for circulating rumors about a mysterious web-based GoogleOS.
While the rumors lie entirely in a realm of pure speculation, one thing is clear:
The world-wide-web of geeks is eager to see a light-weight web-based OS, not as much to replace but to complement Windows.
Some of the most commonly discussed GoogleOS evocations include:
- A web based desktop (not really and OS)
- A full featured Linux distribution
- A lightweight Linux distribution bundled with BIOS
Even though there is no concrete information on a GoogleOS, including even if there is in fact such a project, it is conceivable that Google can come up with a product similar to the one being discussed on forums and blogs by incorporating its online services into a lean, mean and hopefully sexy package.
While we can’t live without Google search, to the best of my knowledge, not to many people use Google Docs and Spreadsheets, both of which are web-based Google productivity services.
The services are no doubt useful for those who don’t have Microsoft Office but it doesn’t offer any compelling reason for existing Microsoft users to switch. Maybe in the future?
All said, GoogleOS even if it does come out is likely to be a web-top application running on Windows.
Here’s an idea… wouldn’t it be cool if Apple, which now uses Intel hardware could beat Microsoft on the desktop OS market?
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I dunno, you need some OS to connect to the web, don’t you? and if you’re already using windows, then all the additional services aren’t an os, rather an application bundle running within the browser.
I doubt that Google is likely to create its own full OS.
However, something that they might come out with is a web-based Linux kernel which allows a variety of web widgets (Google Desktop) and is essentially based entirely around the browser. Therefor, all web services would run much faster since the web browser (probably some modification of Mozilla) would have elevated resources.
As for Google Docs, I do believe it offers something over Microsoft Office – it’s fully web enabled. I myself use it for most of the word processing I need to do – especially since I can share work effortlessly with partners on a school project.
However, Google could do more to make the interface and output look prettier since I usually end up pasting into Microsoft Word when I need to publish a professional looking report. A full blown OS is unlikely but I believe Google might create a slim web-based Linux distribution.
I think it’s interesting and I would love to see what Google comes up with.
re: Microsoft Office… I dumped it ages ago and switched to OpenOffice from Sun Java… a free package which not only enables you to work with MS Office documents but save new documents as MS Office files.
Personally, having nearly finished my own windows CD, complete with all my Drivers, Updates and Apps pre-installed, I’ll stay with XP for a while. An OS from google would be very interesting to see, and could gain popularity very fast.