Google Chrome OS and the Cloud
Google plans to release its Chrome OS on netbooks(laptop computers with very limited computing power and storage, intended mainly for internet users). The removal of the "beta" tag from Google Apps like Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar etc. a move, which according to watblog "is clearly targeted at the business community and to send a message out that Google apps can now be considered as a serious investment." , will solve the traditional limitations imposed due to limited computing power and storage to certain extent. Businesses will be able to use the Chrome OS with Google Apps to meet most of their requirements.
An assumption that is made here is that the personal computer will be used only for sending or receiving mails, editing texts or browsing the net. But what if I need run a processor intensive application? Where will I store chunks of data? The obvious answer is the cloud (assuming that internet band width is not a bottleneck). The cloud will provide users with processing power and storage according to their necessity.
The major shift that will happen is that cloud usages will descent to the common user. The cloud, till now, is mainly used by software professionals who utilize the advantages including reduced hardware costs and on demand scalability. But, as of now, resource procurement is not straight forward or user-friendly. Amazon AWS, for example, uses console level command line tools as the primary interface to AWS. The alternative, ElasticFox plugin or RightScale interface, also needs a lot of user interaction and knowledge. The ordinary user cannot be expected to go through the whole process just to run an ordinary application.
What is required here is a user friendly, direct and secure way in which applications can use the computing power and storage from a remote cloud, with minimal user interaction. The option should be as simple as Run Application on the Cloud, which in turn should call the back end API's which will take care of all the connectivity, allocation and security issues. Enterprise level public clouds, like AWS would need to provide functionality where individual applications would be able to dynamically locate and utilize the remote resources.
All said, Google Chrome OS, I feel, is filling a much needed niche in operating system implementation. The gen-next internet users, with uninterrupted net connectivity, will prefer the advantages that a high-speed internet OS provides like quick startup, fewer or no hardware issues, higher resiliency etc., over its disadvantages like security, confidentiality, loss of control etc.
Comments
As they say in MF, past success is not neccesarily an indication of future performance.
Posted by: Malick | July 15, 2009 06:29 AM
I agree with the comments given above.I dont think there is any revolutionary or extreme innovation left in the OS segment. Chrome OS, as i expect wont be anymore worth than some good OSes like GoodOS (gOS).
There is a gap in education of these things among ppl. Google being a big brand make big news. No doubt that they still are the only remaining real innovative big company left. (Microsoft is going soft on innovation and harder in marketing and pricing it seems).
I am using gOS and webconverger (A nice 300+ mb OS that has only a browser). Best for lowend machines so that they can harness the power of cloud via the google apps and others.
The innovation required is not in the OS. It lies in the business model that would encircle the cloud app business.
Someone should look at Airset... Its really an amazing innovation...to me it seems ahead of its time and underutilized.
We still dont have a good, cheap hardware console that can run these stuff.
People wont care who made what in the future, all they will care is: Is it cheap?
Does it work all the time?
Is my stuff secure?
Does it let me customize the whole thing the way i want without hiring a software techie?
Posted by: Krishnakumar | July 15, 2009 07:18 AM
Thanks for your valuable comments. Yes, I confess that it's a bit too early to comment on a product that has yet to be released. But then, this is no technical paper or article, it's just a blog. I just jotted down my point of view. Google may release a completely different OS than what I have in mind. :)
But I don't quiet agree with the statement that "past success is not an indications of future greatness". The simple fact of the matter is that usually people tend to blindly follow the brand (more so when it comes to titans like Google). Just look at Chrome Browser. It had nothing comparably better than the existing browsers. It got a 30 million user-base within 9 months! Just think about it. Take the case of an OS like good OS or webconverger. How many common users will ever get to know that such an OS exists? Moreover, how many will willingly convert their systems to these? When it comes to a new all-inclusive technology, like OS, people usually are much more comfortable using standard, "heard-of" ones rather than something completely new.
But the questions raised here by krishnakumar are valid.
"Is it cheap?
Does it work all the time?
Is my stuff secure?
Does it let me customize the whole thing the way I want without hiring a software techie?"
And these ultimately will decide the fate of any new cloud OS.
Posted by: kiran | July 20, 2009 04:08 AM