Jul 08

Chrome OS and the principles of Web2.0

Browsers, ClientTechs, Google, RIA, Technology, Web2.0, chrome, futurestefano

I read the Google announcement around the new Google Chrome OS.
I immediately went back to my article Enter the “Reign of RIA 3rd”. In that article I expressed my enthusiasm for the new Google browser as I saw, in the way it was announced, the principle for something new, a platform where applications delivered over the web can be executed fast, securely and offline…Chrome becomes a container for applications delivered over the web!
I rememberI concluded that long post saying:

Chrome, which could be the last browser but, perhaps, the first element of a different kind

I think that I missed something that, now, seems so obvious. I thought to Chrome as, mainly, a new RIA platform. Something beyond the traditional browser but still in the domain of a container.
What this announcement tells us is that Google went far beyond. Chrome becomes the OS, not just a container.

And not “just a new kind of OS”, but as the official announcement says, “the web is the platform”.
Ehi, this is exactly the first principle in Tim O’Reilly famous definition of what is Web2.0 !

The border between an OS and the “web as a platform” is blurring. Not only on the Internet infrastructure. It is blurring deep right onto the desktop. The Browser becoming the Operating System and the Operating System becoming an extension of the web platform itself. So, Chrome OS may be much more revolutionary than it appears. It is not simply Google attacking Microsoft on the OS battlefield. It is extending the cloud to the border.
The new Chrome OS may become the real incarnation of that principle. The operating system for the Cloud Generation. Where Web2.0, SOA and Cloud Computing meet and could shape something, this time, very different!

4 Responses to “Chrome OS and the principles of Web2.0”

  1. stefano Says:
    July 15th, 2009 at 23:59

    I have found a very interesting article on eWeek :Linux & Open Source: 10 Reasons We Are Excited About Google Chrome OS.
    In case you do not want to switch to the article (actually, a set of 10 slides), here I summarize it:

    1. Chrome OS is built by a company that practically defined the Internet as we know it today
    2. Open Source
    3. It’s getting to the point where you hardly need a desktop OS outside of the browser.
    4. Software already exists for it in the form of Google Docs for office support, Gmail for e-mail support and millions of other Web-based applications that already run in browsers (including Yahoo mail and other Google competitors)
      Well, I am not that keen on this point, as I think that Chrome and Chrome OS will also redefine the way traditional web applications are built and delivered….
    5. Boot time
    6. Think of the innovation: The OS will be built to support the browser. Web applications could detect whether they’re running on the Chrome OS and take advantage of what are likely to be some pretty cool features that won’t be found in a browser running on other operating systems. (We can hope, anyway.)
      See my comment on #4
    7. Google says Chrome OS will run on multiple platforms, including mobile operating systems.
    8. Speed
    9. Even though it’s going to be Linux-based, real innovation comes from tossing out what you know and building something new.
    10. It’s about time we saw a brand-new OS that’s built for the Web—not the other way around. Sounds like a round peg in a round hole—finally!
      Makes a lot of sense !
  2. Janice Says:
    October 20th, 2009 at 9:44

    Chrome OS is sort of a very basic operating system based on Linux. i wish that google make an operating system just like Windows XP that would compete with Microsoft

  3. Pinoytech Says:
    November 18th, 2009 at 14:43

    i tried Chrome OS and it is pretty much like a scaled down version of Ubuntu. Chrome is just based on Linux and there is nothing new about it.

  4. Marc Henessy Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 13:51

    i installed Chrome OS on two of my netbooks. the Chrome OS works great and its loading time is very fast too.

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