Google next year hopes to change the paradigm of personal computing. At a press conference last week, the company provided details about its upcoming Chrome operating system and announced the opening of its Chrome Web Store for applications for the Chrome browser that currently runs on Windows and Macintosh.
Chrome is a light-weight operating system (based on Linux) that boots directly into the Chrome browser. Once it's running, the user experience should be the same as with a PC or Mac running Chrome.
Google says that it boots in seconds and resumes from sleep almost instantaneously. The company is distributing test machines to selected businesses, government agencies, press and consumers as part of a "pilot program." Anyone can apply at www.google.com/chrome. Versions of Chrome netbooks will be available from Samsung and Acer and possibly other companies in mid-2011.
All Google Chrome netbooks will come with a 3G cellular data modem. Google has arranged special pricing with Verizon that includes 100MB of free data a month for two years and a more flexible range of pricing options than previous data plans, including $9.99 for a day's worth of unlimited access.
I'm expecting my test machine to arrive shortly, so even though I've seen the Chrome OS demonstrated by Google employees, I don't yet have hands-on experience.
But from what I've seen, another plus for Chrome PCs is easy setup. When you first get the machine, you enter your Google account information, which is all the operating system needs to configure your machine. And if you change machines or use someone else's, you can log on with your credentials and have immediate access to your data, which is stored in the "cloud" on Google servers.
Some applications, including Google Docs and Spreadsheets and some games, will also run when the machine is not connected to the Internet and will then sync the data to the cloud when you reconnect.
Other than that, there isn't much to say about the Chrome OS. Its genius is its simplicity.
As Google CEO Eric Schmidt pointed out near the end of the press conference, the idea for a simple, light-weight device or "thin client" is not new. Schmidt, who worked at Sun Microsystems during much of the 1980s and '90s, said he was involved, along with Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in promoting the "network computer" back in 1997. But it failed, he said, "because we couldn't build great Web applications "... that were on the scale and power of existing desktop applications." He obviously thinks that Google and other companies are finally ready to bring us into the era of network computing.
Chrome wasn't the only PC operating system Google talked about last week. Last Monday, speaking at the All Things Digital's "D: Dive Into Mobile" conference in San Francisco, Google Vice President Andy Rubin showed off a prototype tablet PC running an upcoming version of Google's Android operating system nicknamed "Honeycomb."
It appears as if Google is taking a page from the Apple playbook by tweaking its smartphone operating system to support tablet PCs. Unlike Apple, which makes all its own hardware, Google is likely to work with hardware vendors to usher in a flood of devices, as it did with smartphones.
Although they are completely different operating systems designed for different devices, Chrome and Android share a common commitment to cloud computing and the use of a Google account as an essential tool for taking full advantage of the device.
Chrome will come to life with your data, preferences and personalized look and feel as soon as you enter your Google account and -- to a lesser extent so does Android. I've used numerous Android phones over the past couple of years, and what I like about them is that all I have to do is type in my Gmail address and, within minutes, my e-mail, calendar and contact list appear on the phone. Although Google's vision is different than Apple's, they share the view that the traditional PC (and that includes Macs) will eventually cease to be a mainstream device. They won't go away, but many people will rely on simpler devices, such as the iPad, Android tablets and Chrome-based netbooks.
Even Microsoft is committed to cloud computing for both its enterprise and consumer customers, and it is building Web-based application and storage solutions for both PCs and mobile devices. Its new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7, is a good start towards creating a more user friendly environment. But so far all Microsoft has to offer for netbooks and tablets are versions of Windows that are nearly as big and bulky as its PC operating system.
If you listen to Google and Apple, it's time for computers to go on a diet so they become lighter and more nimble. I agree, which reminds me that it's time for me to step away from my computer and get some exercise, so I too can someday be lighter and more nimble.
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