I thought I would jump in and add my ha’pennyworth to the numerous comments to the announcement, by Google, of the intended launch of their Chrome operating system.
Understandably, the press and the blogging community have had a field day predicting the beginning of the end of Microsoft’s dominance in the PC OS market and the dawn of a new computing age.
Press hyperbole of course, and we know that, in truth, this will not be the case. A market share of 90% plus takes a lot of beating – even if you are Google.
What it does mean, however, is a further push in the Cloud Computing direction. As I understand it the new Chrome OS will be designed to make the internet the virtual desktop and for all one’s documents, spreadsheets and applications to be operated “in the Cloud”.
Exciting stuff and a step that most proponents of SaaS will be rightly excited about. It will be further emphasis of the Cloud concept and another step on the ladder to universal acceptance.
Whilst not marking the end of Microsoft’s dominance – and they surely must be considering something similar – it is perhaps appropriate to quote Winston Churchill when he said:
“….This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end…but it might be considered to be the end of the beginning”.
We shall see.