Google Chrome Moves Computing from Desk Top to Cloud

Turn Prospects Into Customers and Opportunities Into Sales.

The End of Desk Top Computing is Near Now

The world is flat and computers are Microsoft

Do you know there are still people who think the world is flat? Yes and there are also those who think the world will always be defined by Microsoft. Quite how both types are able to deny the obvious bemuses me. In thirty years of struggling with computers I’ve learned one thing which most haven’t.

No market leader ever survives a fundamental change in technology.

Before you attack my sanity let me explain I remember when computers were built/sold by IBM, ICL, Burroughs, Sperry, Honeywell. I remember when Mini computer manufacturers – DEC, HP, Data General, Wang, Prime etc. etc. built machines to offload mainframe applications. I remember when Sun was a just a desk top machine for traders and CIO’s main worry was whether to base their “strategy” on Oracle, Sybase, Ingres or Informix.

Through each iteration there were those who couldn’t see the world changing. But looking back now we see only three of these companies are still in the business they were. And if I were a betting man, my wager would be none of those will be in business in ten years time.

Enter Google Chrome OS

This note from Mashable explains the background to Google Chrome OS. The technology isn’t exciting and certainly won’t rival M/S whatever in any respect, other than it will be free. From an individual user’s perspective this may not be relevant, but for the hardware people it’ll be fundamental.

Computers will be sold like phones

Within a couple of years we’ll find the single biggest channel for personal computers will be the cellphone companies. It’s already started. The second biggest channel will be the supermarkets. Consumer products businesses like these are comfortable selling low margin, low service hardware and compete on price with relish. Once one of them goes into the market with a netbook at $150 they’ll all have to do the same. Then they’ll start bundling the hardware with the data contract.

There’ll be no money to pay M/S. It’s stranglehold over the distribution chains will be lost forever.

Goodbye Microsoft – I won’t miss you.

Earlier today, Google revealed new details about Google Chrome OS, the search giant’s attempt to redefine the operating system and push society and technology even farther onto the web.

We’re here live at the Google Chrome OS press conference, and from what we’re hearing and seeing, this thing is different than any other operating system before it. It is fundamentally different than Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

But now you may be wondering “How exactly is it different?” We were curious about that as well, so we analyzed the information that’s been revealed so far to provide some of our biggest takeaways from what we know about Google Chrome OS. There are just a few of the ways that it is completely different than any other OS on the market:

1. The browser IS the OS: This is the fundamental tenant of Google Chrome OS. There is no installation of Firefox or IE – Chrome IS both the browser AND the OS.

2. It’s designed to fix itself: Chrome OS really focuses on security. Applications run on Chrome OS are placed in their own “security sandboxes,” which is designed to prevent malware and virus attempts. Another cool feature is that Chrome OS verifies the integrity of its code and, if it finds that it is compromised, reboots and fixes itself.

3. All apps are web apps, no installations: Speaking of apps, there will be no installation of apps. No Microsoft Office, Adobe AIR, TweetDeck, or Digsby. This also means no installations. Even Android apps won’t run on Chrome OS.

4. Chrome OS doesn’t support drivers and will not run on your laptop: The Google operating system won’t be running on your Dell or Macbook anytime soon – it only works with solid-state hard drives. It is meant for netbooks. Many hardware manufacturers are going to have to tweak their netbook designs to support Chrome OS. In the future though, Chrome OS could evolve to support drivers. Today, they said it will handle printing, for example, based on some “innovative technique.”

5. Super-fast startup speeds: Google cares deeply about speed, and Chrome OS is a shining example. They took out anything they deemed “unnecessary” to speed up the boot-up. You can be browsing the web “in seconds.” In fact, they’re so obsessed with it that they’re asking the hardware manufacturers to use specific metals that make Chrome OS faster.