OS Google Chrome: Google's assault

(Tribune published on July 10 in the Journal 5 Days, you can access online from the original version here)

You can download it in pdf here

With nocturnal and treachery, as one who knows that goes beyond certain limits so far blocked, Google announced its Linux-based operating system, that called Google Chrome OS, whose code will be released later this year, will be available for public in mid-2010. We can not overlook the significance of this news not only because it represents a de facto declaration of war between the companies, but by the impact it will have on the end user.

In the scenario known to date, the portable computer market is cornered by the various Microsoft operating systems, representing a de facto monopoly with 96% market share. Now, Google is in a few years to reverse this situation, introducing Chrome OS as an operating system especially fast, based on open source and designed for laptops, the only segment of the PC market in continuous growth, and attacking one of the key revenue and appellants who still had the company of Bill Gates and on which it relies to finance their adventures, often failed in recent years within the Internet.

The significance of this strategic move is similar to the power of a huge tsunami, which announced not fail to destroy everything in its path and will shake the foundation of Microsoft. It is possible that this movement is the beginning of the end of the monopoly exercised the Windows operating system for over 15 years.

First, the hardware manufacturers expected the news anxious to have an alternative to Microsoft's monopoly deal in recent years, which have been forced by the lack of alternatives to meet one by one all the requirements of the Redmond giant . To date, open source alternatives had no commercial interest to them, not just demand from users. Now that changes, Google has introduced a brand image and incontestable guarantees, a new operating system, based on concepts of cloud computing and all that ... at zero cost.

And if that were not enough, surely Google is already preparing a strategic plan with actions revenue share, to stimulate and encourage manufacturers to go ahead and base their products in the new Chrome OS.

The end user will have an immediate benefit, the manufacturer of the equipment without the cost of the Windows operating system, which can affect a price reduction was approximately 10% -15% of a laptop.

Microsoft is at the expense of playing two last letters. First, a policy of reducing prices on its system or via operativ minimize the problem, and secondly so far rely on the high dependency of the user to run programs designed for PCs, which can not be done under Google Chrome. Either way, the war has started and each user must take sides.

Tags: 5 Days, chrome, Google, Microsoft, platform, windows 7