GoogleOS Scenarios

ReadWriteWeb writes "Read/WriteWeb offers 3 scenarios for a GoogleOS and suggests it could be less than 6 months away. They say it may be a web based desktop (aka WebOS), a full featured Linux distribution, or a lightweight Linux distro and/or BIOS. They predict that once Microsoft's Vista rolls out, it will present a direct threat to Google's Web properties and so therefore Google will start a more punchy strategy — pushing Firefox and some form of Google OS in order to nullify Vista's potential impact."

So in other words

[ats-tech]

"They say it may be a web based desktop (aka WebOS), a full featured Linux distribution, or a lightweight Linux distro and/or BIOS."

They have no idea.

Arg

[GigsVT]

What compels people that know nothing about technology to keep writing these "Google OS" articles? Do they even understand what an OS is?

MS bought into this "web OS" hype over 5 years ago. It was stupid then, and it's stupid now.

Re:So in other words

[AKAImBatman]

They have no idea.

That's pretty much it. The so-called "analysts" are regularly baffled by Google, primarily because they don't seem to understand them. Google does things according to what makes the most sense from a logical perpective, not necessarily what makes them the most money in the short term. (Or at least, what seems to make them the most money.) These analysts don't understand that mode of thinking, and expect Google to fit in the same box as everyone else.

Bad tag

[Jugalator]

GoogleOS isn't vaporware as it hasn't been announced for a public release by Google.
There was some news about Google using a custom *nix based OS internally, and it has indeed been deployed.

That it's not even vaporware also says a bit why I think these articles are a bit useless.

Soooo ...

[spellraiser]

Let me get this straight ...

Google is expected to release an entire operating system that's supposed to compete heads on with Windows Vista, which is the result of years and years of work and billions of dollars invested? Say what you will about Windows, but it certainly is a massive behemoth with sh*tloads of functionality. You don't just shake something like that out of your sleeve in a few months.

And what's the supposed rationale behind a GoogleOS? Better integration of Windows Vista with Microsofts Live Search, or whatever they call it. Here's where the flip side of the coin comes in. Google has, for their part, invested years and years and billions of dollars in creating the best search engine out there, bar none. Is Microsoft suddenly going to undermine their user base by making their search engine integrated into Vista? I don't think so, Tim. People aren't total morons. They know how to type google.com into their search bars when they want to use a real search engine. It's no small cooincidence that the verb 'to google' has become prevalent among the English speaking, and has even been adopted and localized by many other nationalities.

There is absolutely no logical basis behind these speculations. Sheez.

Indeed, given Google's horsepower

[Colin Smith]

I'd go for a VNC(or similar) download. You heard it here first.

 

Re:Soooo ...

[pubjames]

People aren't total morons.

Actually, when it comes to computers, most people are.

Re:Broadband addiction

[z0idberg]

non-broadband (or at least non-internet connected) users DON'T matter to Google.

Google is all about advertising and AdSense/Adwords. If you arent on the net you arent in their target market.

Non-broadband people might be a significant part of the OS market but they arent a significant part of Googles market.

Umm... right

[Anonymous Coward]

Google does a lot of good stuff (maps, search, and I recently checked out their finance page... very slick), but an OS? That's nuts. People aren't going to switch to Linux; Slashdot has been pushing all the anti-MS FUD they can for years and years already, and been extremely successful in their anti-MS propaganda, but it the claims of "Linux on the Desktop" have never been farther from reality than they are now.

And even the OEM machines with Linux pre-installed were a huge failure, since people purchased them and installed pirated copies of Windows.

Every municipal Linux/OSS deployment has been a high-profile failure (Munich anyone?). In real life, "Free" can be way too expensive.

Re:So in other words

[breed13]

Maybe Google is just reading what the analysts are saying and then moving in another direction... This is Google's way of revealing how little analysts actually know about anything... Of course, this could also be my bias against analysts coming to the surface... I'm tired of hearing how company XYZ's stock price was driven up (or down) by analyst A's comments... (Let the "correlation not causation" debate begin!)

Re:Slasbots don't understand Google either

[MindStalker]

And thats what is great, they are an ad agency willing to create brand new technologies just to push their ads. Hell they encourage their employers to create random technologies with 20% of their paid time that may or may not do Google any good.

Re:So in other words

[postmortem]

Only thing they ("analysts") understand is that unless they put out baseless claims frequently, they are out of job.

GoogleOS

[Russ Steffen]

I always figured that GoogleOS is what we'd be explaining to our children as the reason we're living underground in caves, hiding from the robotic Google Search Engines that scour the earth looking for humans to "index". Oh, and it's also trying to send Ahhhnold back in time to eliminate "the one called Sara Connor".

Or maybe I've watched The Terminator a few too many times.

Re:So in other words

[14CharUsername]

I think this is just a message to MS: "If you don't play nice with vista, this is what we can do..."

I think the amount of money to be made from Desktop OS's is going to take a drop, even for MS. Piracy is going to continue to take a chunk of business no matter how much MS pushes WGA and DRM. But an even bigger problem is that most people just don't need that many features from an OS. the Office, IE, and Windows lock in schemes are being chipped away by increased competition and anti-trust rulings. Computers aren't going to keep improving geometrically forever, so people will stop replacing their computers every couple of years, and that means less bundled copies of windows being sold.

Now these same conditions also affect Linux. I don't think a Desktop Linux distro could do much more than break even. There's money to be made on servers, but not as many people will bother paying for support for their desktop. So Google probably doesn't really want to do a Linux desktop distro, its far easier to let Mark Shuttleworth dump his time and money into it. But if Microsoft gets up to their usual dirty tricks with vista... well buying ubuntu and puting a few billion into improving it is a good strategy to prevent Google from becoming another Netscape.

Re:Indeed, given Google's horsepower

[jomegat]

Yes, most of the /. community prefers a thick client. But Joe consumer doesn't know how to administer one, and that's who this would be targeted at. I'd steer clear of it myself too because of the privacy issues.

If they could offer the thin client for around $100, I'd be awfully tempted to point it out to the next friend or relative who asks me to clean the viruses off their PC. Isn't that about what the Geek Squad charges? With any luck, I'd never get bugged about an Outlook problem again.

Another reason this makes sense from a Google/Sun stand-point is because it cuts Microsoft/Dell/HP/Intuit and a host of others out of the picture.

Re:Slasbots don't understand Google either

[MikeFM]

Wouldn't it be nice if all employers did that. That policy of Google's is my number one reason for wishing they'd hire me. Finally time and resources to work on pet projects and if they don't suck then millions of people could end up using my project. That'd be awesome.

Re:Broadband addiction

[electrosoccertux]

Right, because its not like Google doesn't reguarly give AOL money to keep Google the default AOL search engine.

Last I checked, sending text is not bandwidth intensive. So neither is AdSense.

When I go back to dialup at my grandma's house, Google is one of the few websites that still _feels_ fast. Plenty of dialup customers use Google. Saying these dialup customers don't matter is simply foolish.

Re:Indeed, given Google's horsepower

[russ1337]

>>> What it doesn't offer - Local space for your photos, MP3's etc.

I need to add that if they offer an OS for existing PC's, they can use the hard drives and freed up 5GB that XP hoarded for MP3's and Photos!

I'm an admin and I'd love a thin client

[Colin Smith]

Honestly, administering your own systems becomes a real pain in the arse. For all the standard stuff, I'd frankly rather not bother doing it for myself.

If Google produce a system with all the basics:
word processor, spreadsheet, email, all the office stuff, add on a small business accounts and customer relationship management you have a compelling product for small businesses and individuals. Charge $50 per year per seat.

Anyway, it wouldn't be aimed at us, it'd be aimed the people we serve. Damn... That puts me out of business... Wanders off to think about the future.