From the “The browser IS the OS” files:
Google’s Android mobile OS is not the only OS up Google’s sleeve. Google announced late Tuesday that it is working on a Linux based Chrome OS as an operating system for the Web.
Don’t rush out to Google to download Chrome OS today — Google doesn’t expect to have it available to consumers until the second half of 2010.
“The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel,” Google’s blog post announcing Chrome OS stated. “For application developers, the Web is the platform.”
The goal for Chrome OS is to run on x86 as well as ARM, which means we could see this on both netbooks, regular PCs and even mobile devices at some point.
The plan is to have a secure OS, such that viruses and malware are not an issue — it’s a lofty goal and one that I wish Google the best of luck in completing.
While having a browser based operating system makes a whole lot of sense to me, where does that leave Android? Is it now obsolete?
Not quite, though the two OSs might end up competing against each other in some ways…
Next page: Tough choices