Google announced yesterday their plans to introduce Chrome OS, the Google Operating System.  This is big news for not only the search industry, but also the technology industry in general.  Described as “an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks”, Chrome OS has the potential to be a strong competitor to the dominant OS manufacturer, Microsoft.  Free, open source operating systems are nothing new, Linux has been doing it for years, and even have their own “netbook OS”, but the big difference here is no other open source OS has been backed by a very large and profitable corporation like Google.  Additionally, the OS is reported to be “web-based”, so most of the applications will be online, and one can reasonably speculate that it will sync nicely with other Google products like GMail and Google Docs.  Essentially, it could potentially be a solely Internet based computer, with data stored on remote servers, as opposed to local hard drives.

The idea of cloud based computing dates back to the 1960s, but the term “cloud” wasn’t introduced until the early 90’s to refer to ATM systems (Asynchronous Transfer Mode, not to be confused with Automated Teller Machines).  Recently, cloud storage has been made commercially accessible thanks to products like Windows Live and MobileMe.  One company, Cloudo, has a fully accessible cloud based operating system currently in Beta where you can access data and software applications directly from a web browser or mobile phone.  This is exciting news for those of us who have visions of online productivity from their office on the beaches of the Caribbean!

Related posts:

1. Google wave. Cowabunga dude.
2. New software, it’s all up in the clouds
3. Amazing “Digital Cloud” to Hover Over 2012 London Olympics

Tags: chrome OS, cloud computing, Google

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