A Google Chrome OS hater speaks his mind

I saw this blog post, someone who doesn’t think anything is going to come of the Google Chrome OS, it’s an interesting read. Now, I don’t know if this is entirely serious or a bit satirical bit still…

http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2009/07/lets-all-take-deep-breath-and-get-some.html

First of all, nobody seems to appreciate how goddamn hard it is to make an operating system…..

That’s a fair point. However, it will be using Linux as a base, which, no, isn’t as developed as Windows and Mac, but as the Google Chrome OS will be very simple, maybe it doesn’t have to be.

Point two: Who in their right mind thinks the world needs yet another desktop operating system?…..

You can say that about anything. Who needs another smart phone?? It’s called competition. You can’t just have 1 of everything. Realistically, Windows and Mac are the two biggest OSs, Linux versions aren’t generally very popular, so who says another one is a bad thing?? If it’s marketed right, which no doubt it will be with Google, it could do well. I think half the reason Linux (and to a certain extent, Mac) aren’t popular is because not enough people know about them. Then again, you could say that if someone is at a level of competence to use another OS they’d already be at a level of knowledge where they’d know about other OSs, but, on the other hand, you could say that more information on new OSs would allow more people to start using alternatives. Google is the most visited website in the world, if they slap advertising on the homepage, it’ll get a ton of downloads.

Point three: They’re aiming this OS (or as we call it, “POS”) at netbooks, at least at first, and in case you hadn’t noticed, the netbook market is fucking tiny and will remain so forever…..

Well, from what I’ve heard, it’s a growing business. They’re good for commuters if they have internet access when they travel, and if internet is ever available on planes, they’d probably be used a lot more for businessmen on long-haul flights. Some big brands have netbooks released and I see them becoming more and more popular.

Point four: You also may not have noticed, but nobody uses Chrome…..

Wrong… according to the W3Schools Browser Stats, more people use Chrome than Safari and Opera put together. Then again, that is based on visitors to W3Schools only, but still, more people visit W3Schools in Chrome than Safari and Opera put together. Hardly a sign that nobody uses it. Plus, Google probably don’t help their cause with their lack of advertising… yeah, they have a link to the Chrome download on YouTube if you’re not viewing the site in Chrome, but what about the download link they had on their homepage when it was first launched?? If they put that back, I’m sure they’d get loads more downloads. Plus, Google is the newest main browser there is, it’s not even a year old… plus, Flock might even be changing it’s source code from Firefox to Chrome.

Point five: What the fuck is going on inside Google?…..

This goes on about Android being a failure… one thing… T-Mobile G1, anyone?? That runs on Android, and they’ve sold over a millions units. Oh, but nobody wants Android…

Point six: It’s going to be free…..

I suppose this is a fair point. The Chrome OS will be unlikely to dent Microsoft’s market share if it’s free… but, then again, a lot of people hate the fact that Windows costs so much, so, depending on how far Google go with this, people could see it as a viable free alternative… only time will tell.

To be honest, I think reports on this will be the same as anything else. People who hate Chrome will point out the bad stuff, people who love Chrome will point out the good stuff. The only time we’ll ever find out what it’s really like is when it’s released.