Google recently made public the source code for it's first attempt at an Operating system-Chrome; the namesake of it's super fast and secure browser. Now what does that mean for us consumers? Initially, manufacturers that partner with Google will use this as a hammer to beat Microsoft for OEM discounts and so we may see cheaper PC's. After approaching production costs or locations thereof, M$ will not be able to offer any more discounts. Now businesses being what they are, they will try cutting costs even more-t'is the nature of the beast. A business exists for one reason, and one reason alone-to make as much money as possible, as quickly as it can, and without spending a lot to get it. I believe the PR term for that is called “maximizing shareholder value” or something like that.
Anyways, I digress. Chrome OS and cloud computing can come together in some expected ways, and some not so obvious ways. Here is what looks like (it) could be:
- Cloud Computing
Now cloud computing, Infrastructure as a service, Software as a service are all sometimes used interchangeably and sometimes in tandem. Where does the Chrome OS fall? Since Google is providing all the software (Google apps, Gmail, Google search of course, etc) free or close to free; it will be Software-as-a-(free) service. All applications are hosted on the cloud/Google's data center, the end-user does not have to worry about updates, security, etc and concentrate on just getting their work (or play) done. Frequent travelers will benefit mostly from Chrome since they will have a light-weight netbook without a traditional hard drive (only a Solid State drive) that are still able to provide them with all their favorite applications. I know what you're thinking-well what about apps like Photoshop or Dreamweaver or other third-party apps that Google cannot possibly host? Couple of things- First of all this demographic (web designer/programmer) does not travel frequently.
Second, this might spur web based versions-either lite or full-blown versions of third-party apps starting to appear on the cloud (As of the writing of this article, Photoshop already has an online version of it's app with 2 GB free space for storing and editing pictures at Linky.)
- LAN Computing
LAN computing, now pray tell what does this mean? Well, instead of hosting the OS and applications on the big bad (sometimes unreliable and insecure) Internet, why not do it in your data center? Small to medium companies will have one main location with links to remote locations. They could host the OS and apps in their data center with dedicated switches providing 100% uptime. Remember that once the hardware is paid for, LAN's are free (electricity being the only recurring cost which is very small) and are part of the existing infrastructure. So with the purchase of a few servers, backup power and additional cooling/HVAC as needed, companies can quickly deploy LAN computing. The idea is similar to Desktop virtualization where a server would host “virtual machines” and serve them up over the network. The only difference is, desktop virtualization still costs more for operating system (Windows) and application licenses. What is that you say? Chrome OS is probably a type of Desktop virtual machine living on the cloud. Well yes, possibly that, or a solution encompassing similar technology. But it's Linux based and so it will be a lot cheaper (if not eventually free) and it is more secure, faster, and possibly have less bugs. And bugs will be updated for everyone by Google-remember Chrome is a “hands-free” operating system. Hands-free means no tweaking, updating, installing applications, anti-virus and updates, anti-malware/spyware and updates and worrying about data backups.
- WAN Computing
WAN computing of course is taking the LAN computing idea (back) to the cloud. The only difference between WAN computing and cloud computing is ownership. Cloud computing refers to Google or some other OSP (Operating System Provider :) ) and WAN computing refers to company owned infrastructure. In the end, a cost-benefit analysis will determine if companies want to take on the burden of hosting employee OS (infrastructure costs, training and hiring IT employees,etc), or if they would prefer an expert like Google to host it which effectively gives them a single throat to choke, so to say. Of course, depending on customer feedback and it's business plans, Google could offer a “Hybrid” version of Chrome OS. A mini Chrome cloud inside the customer data center which could be managed by Google or by the customer-both scenarios win-win for Google. In the first scenario, Google manages this mini Chrome deployment and charges for managed services. The latter scenario, the customer's IT team gets trained on Chrome thus spreading the Google Chrome Kool-Aid. This also opens up possibilities for Chrome training, certification, etc-all of which will not only generate revenue, but also drive wide-spread adoption of Chrome and thus ensuring even more revenue down the road. What does all this mean for M$? Well, I'm typing this on OpenOffice 3.0 Writer running on a Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Bit OS laptop. Articles in the future, might just be written using Google Apps running on a Chrome Netbook (as long as the screen is 12+ inches of course).
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