Probably, the EU isn't (as yet) treating Google like a bank for when times are hard. You do have to wonder why everyone but microsoft being allowed to distribute a browser with their operating system is somehow considered fair, especially as Apple (and probably google) have their browsers much closer tied in than MS ever have.
The first threat to Microsoft Windows since BeOS
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Probably, the EU isn't (as yet) treating Google like a bank for when times are hard. You do have to wonder why everyone but microsoft being allowed to distribute a browser with their operating system is somehow considered fair, especially as Apple (and probably google) have their browsers much closer tied in than MS ever have.
Regulators are already taking an interest in Google more so now that they've announced a new operating system.
If the Chrome o/s is open source then I doubt the EU will take much action, whereas Apple don't have much market share for them to care about it yet.
If the Chrome o/s is open source then I doubt the EU will take much action, whereas Apple don't have much market share for them to care about it yet.
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Windows 7 is a lot faster than both Vista and XP in terms of responsiveness on my Eee due to its much better handling of SSD read/writes. XP can be down right laggy at points, and I couldn't get Vista to fit.
I think this has potential. It won't be a thing to put on your high end gaming rig, but they've pretty much stated that it's there to get you on the internet quickly.
If it works with my external 3g card, I'll probably be sold on the idea.
Why wouldn't they? Unlike Microsoft, they aren't using their dominance in one market to force their way into another market. If they said that Google.com will only work with Chrome browsers/OS then the EU would correctly take action.
What about much better integration of their own apps with their own OS e.g. seamless support for GMAIL, search, maps etc, if they want to offer the user "choice" shouldn't I be able to choose want I want on my OS?
I would imagine they will want to ensure that "Google" products work much better on the "Google OS", aren't they then using their dominance in the search market to become dominant in the OS market?
Well it will be completely open source anyway, so if Microsoft or any other 3rd party wants to take the code and integrate their applications seamlessly into the OS they have every right to.
I doubt it would have mattered if OpenGL e.t.c had won the 3D API war. Game developers would still be coding for the Windows platform. It has the most market share and, more importantly, strong binary compatibility due to stable APIs / ABIs. An application coded many years ago for Win2k can still run on Vista. The same can not be said for an equally old Linux application.
OpenGL used to be common on windows too, it fell out of use because, after the first couple of versions of directX (which were crap), openGL fell behind in terms of ease of use and compatibility.
I remember having umpteen different driver/API layers on my PC back when I had an original 3dfx voodoo card (the old passthrough one) because so many games used different methods of accessing the card's features. I don't miss it at all...
Agreed, sometimes a defacto standard is a good thing.
As far as I can see it's not a full blown OS in the way Windows is. It looks as if it's primary use is to get you to a browser and then run Web Apps. I don't expect it to to support games or thick client apps, at least in the short to mid term.
If that's the case I suspect the OS will compete more directly with Windows CE, an OS that has limited "heavy weight" application compatibility but can be componentised, striped down and give a very lightweight, robust OS for network/web access.
It'll be good for MS to have some competition to work against although at least in the short term I suspect it'll have more of an effect on the Linux community. Red Hat has been relatively successful in commercializing Linux for the enterprise, will the Google OS kill off any last pretense of a consumer Linux offering?
If that's the case I suspect the OS will compete more directly with Windows CE, an OS that has limited "heavy weight" application compatibility but can be componentised, striped down and give a very lightweight, robust OS for network/web access.
It'll be good for MS to have some competition to work against although at least in the short term I suspect it'll have more of an effect on the Linux community. Red Hat has been relatively successful in commercializing Linux for the enterprise, will the Google OS kill off any last pretense of a consumer Linux offering?
Well look at the version of Linpus Linux that is on the Acer Aspire One netbooks, you're "stuck" with Firefox and Open Office on that.
Installation of new programs is a chore.
Nobody has chased after them have they.
Exactly, it's just like the lite versions of Linux that run on many netbooks today... a small weight OS with a tiny footprint that runs basic programs that lets you get onto the internet quickly and use web apps and office applications with ease.
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If its as crap as Chrome, i'll give it a miss.
Hum... so it's based on Linux? Not a good start. Whilst this will work for piddly little Netbook hardware... it makes you wonder if Google are even actually thinking of scaling this OS up to the big time. How do they plan to support hundreds of thousands of hardware configurations and hardware changes with a kernel that doesn't support device drivers?
I suspect Microsoft just breathed a small sigh of relief after learning of this small little detail.
I suspect Microsoft just breathed a small sigh of relief after learning of this small little detail.
Wouldn't that break the idea of the Cloud?
Competition law in the EU applies to Google as much as it does to Microsoft. If Microsoft lodge a complaint with the EU then it will be investigated and judged on its merits. There's no doubt that Google will have to be aware of EU regulators as it expands into new markets, however I see no signs of unfair competition based on what has been announced today. Including a Chrome browser with the Chrome OS certainly isn't going to be a problem for Google.
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Device drivers have been modular in Linux for a long time
W7 handles them in very much the same way Linux does.
Either way I cant see MS trembling any time soon, but i should imagine Mr Jobs is getting worried.
You mean the ones that very few people want, since 90%+ of the netbook market is taken up by windows netbooks despite the cost implications and the fact that they were late to market compared to the linux ones?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook#Software
The netbook market hasn't gone the way most companies and people expected it to, it's not about internet access devices, but about tiny subnotebooks. With that in mind, Google may well be barking up the wrong tree.
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