Google Chrome the new operating system that has been developed by Google to take on Microsoft’s Windows offering is set to go live in some form either this week or early next week, according to Company sources.
Among the vendors who have been working closely with Google engineers to develop drivers for the new OS is Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Toshiba and Sony. ChannelNews has also been told that several automation vendors are keen to trial the new operating system. In Australia Switch Automation is already running a version of their software in Linux and a move to Google Chrome would be extremly easy say the Company.
Currently Google has a big team of engineers building hardware drivers for the new OS which will be available for free to hardware vendors, the Company is also working closely with manufacturers so that the maximum amount of drivers are available when the final version is released.
Google first announced plans for a Chrome OS in July. They already have a smartphone and small computer operating system called Android which several major Companies such as Acer, Samsung, Motorola and Dell have adopted for their new smartphone offerings.
Launching the OS as soon as possible makes sense, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. “I would expect the Chrome OS will show up shortly because they need the ecosystem ready by the end of 2010” he said.
Enderle blamed Google’s lack of marketing expertise for doubling up on the Chrome name. “Google has showcased a massive weakness in marketing and branding, and using the same name for both the OS and the browser is a reflection of that,” he pointed out. “Both are largely based on the Chrome browser, but they should have never had the same name.” This mistake will be an expensive one”, Enderle said.
The Chrome OS is a fast, lightweight operating system that will be open sourced, Google said in announcing the project. It will sit on top of a Linux kernel and will use a new windowing system. The Web will be its application development platform.
Google has also said that their new Chrome browser will be available for the Mac OS X platform, and an early developer channel version is now available. The Mac beta will be released in December, according to a blog post by Nick Baum, a Chrome product manager.
The launch of a new operating system by Google could weaken Microsoft’s Windows revenue streams claims some analysts who predicted, that vendors are set to use the launch to argue for cheaper Windows licensing fees.
Some vendors already have working prototypes. Lenovo has developed a smart book that runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, company spokesperson Kristy Fair said recently.
The device will be shown at the Consumer Electronic Show, to be held in Las Vegas in January, she said.
