Google Chrome OS Make or Break

Not so familiar with the Chrome OS? Check out this teaser video

or try a search on Google with the terms “Chrome OS project“.

In my mind, the Chrome OS is simply the best thing since Google came along with their search. The question I ask is will it be adapted by a large enough user base. Its close kin Linux has tried for years with very limited success.

Ultimately, what’s going to make or break the Chrome OS is user conversion. How many people will actually install and use it from a windows, mac, or linux platform is the key. I imagine the early adaption period be done via a browser so the install must work effortlessly across all existing platforms. In most cases, this scenario will create a machine with 2 operating systems and the user will simply choose whatever they wish to boot from. One major hurdle remains, DRIVERS. All hardware in the machine needs them, without them, the machine renders useless. Windows Vista failed miserably during initial launch due to driver issues. The installer needs to simply pull the latest build from Google with applicable drivers and installs them on the machine. It’s absolutely paramount for Google to get this right from the initial launch. The greatest OS to date simply can not be stumbled by the install itself even for the novice computer users. Get this Google, and you will have the world.

Let’s just assume that the install goes well, so what’s next? The Chrome OS needs to be easier and simpler to use than all current platforms. This maneuver requires a careful balance between having too many and too few core features. Where all other platforms failed, Chrome needs to be super lightweight and fluid, what it lacks the open source community can make up with free or paid apps that user can download. The game is ON, make or break, this little experiment will no doubt push us further into the web computing era that we’re in now and where it is heading next. Did I mention web 2.0? How about HTML5? I will definitely talk more about these new standards on upcoming blogs.