Chrome vs Windows

The headlines today have been predictable, framing Google's OS announcement as an imminent threat to Windows' hegemony. And although this is where Google should be going strategically, this play is by no means in the bag. Even if Google comes up with a phenomenal operating system, the impetus to switch from Windows will be tempered first and foremost by practical considerations. The adoption of a future Chrome OS will depend critically on Google's ability to provide a seamless alternative to Microsoft Office. The OS by itself will mean little without the programs that people use on it. Google will surely be pushing Docs hard from now until the release of their OS.

So provide a better OS environment, supply the equivalent applications free of charge , and add to this a sweetener for hardware manufacturers (that box is already ticked, Chrome OS will be free), and you may well be on to something. But the lethargic adoption of the Android platform should serve as a gentle reminder that just because it says Google on the box, it is not a guarantee of immediate and overwhelming success. Like Microsoft (and unlike Apple), Google will be reliant on innovation from hardware manufacturers; Android handsets have thus far not exactly caught the imagination on that front. Nonetheless the current technological environment favours Google if it is bold and aggressive over the coming years. Taking a first tentative step with netbooks makes sense, as the rationale behind a netbook does not fit well with a clunky operating system like Windows. But move to desktop computers and laptops, and the picture becomes a little less clear cut. The onus in on the consumer to break a habit (albeit an unproductive one), and this will be Google's greatest challenge.