This is great news for a few genealogy software vendors. Indeed, it might be good news for all computer-using genealogists.
For years, many people have speculated that Google would introduce a new operating system to compete with Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Google has now confirmed those predictions: the new Chrome operating system will appear in beta later this year, and new "netbook" computers based on that operating system will be available for sale about a year from now. They are expected to be very low-cost.
The Chrome operating system will run on the x86 and ARM architectures and will stress speed, simplicity and security. "x86" refers to computers using Intel-compatible central processors, such as all of today's Windows and Macintosh computers. The first release of the new operating system is intended for use in the tiny, low-cost portable computers known as netbooks, which have been selling quickly even as demand for other PCs has plummeted.
The new Google Chrome operating system will use a Linux kernel but most everything else will be new, including a new windowing system. According to Google, "For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Macintosh and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform."
Indeed, the Chrome operating system is obviously designed "for people who spend most of their time on the web."
You can read more in the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/technology/companies/08operate.htm?_r=2.
I think this could be a killer, especially as the world continues to rush to "online, all the time." Low-cost netbook computers sell for $300 to $400 today and probably will drop still further in price in the future. Almost all of those low-cost systems include wi-fi wireless networking, and a few now offer wide-area "3G" wireless networks.
Next, most of the present netbook computers run the Windows XP operating system which has to be "shoehorned in" to run on these lower-powered PCs. XP is not a good fit. Microsoft is also trying to abandon that operating system and move everyone to Vista and then on to Windows 7. However, the bloated Vista operating system is an even worse choice for these tiny netbook computers with limited disk space and slower, battery-conserving processors. Windows 7 appears to be about the same as Vista: not a good "fit" for netbooks. So here is Microsoft, producer of the best-selling operating systems in the world, without a good operating system for the hottest-selling computers in the market today.
A few netbooks do run Linux, which works much better; however, the Linux-powered machines have not been very successful in the marketplace. That's unfortunate, as I love my lightweight Linux-powered Asus Eee netbook PC. A local department store near me now sells the Linux-powered Asus Eee netbook for $249. That's a great price for a computer that weighs less than two pounds and yet surfs the web and includes a very good word processor, spreadsheet program, and more. It also runs all the net-based "cloud applications," including Google Docs, Zoho Docs, Salesforce, as well as genealogy applications The Next Generation, PhpGedView, and FamilyTreeExplorer.com. I suspect the new Chrome operating system will run similar applications, and prices for the new Chrome netbooks could fall to the $250 range or even lower.
A new operating system that is optimized for the low-powered and inexpensive computers makes sense. A company with deep pockets, such as Google, could pull this off and become very successful. I have to wonder, however, if the world really needs a fourth operating system. (The first three are Windows, Macintosh, and Linux, although there are a few others that have never made it to the mainstream.)
In any case, this has to be good news for the producers of online genealogy programs, including The Next Generation, PhpGedView, and FamilyTreeExplorer.com.
If several million new Chrome-based "netbook" computers are sold in the next few years, will we see even more genealogy applications move to the cloud?
This is interesting. The question will be, what will run on this? Will it actually be a whole new OS (like BeOS or OS/2), or will it just be a Chrome GUI for FreeBSD or some flavor of linux?
Posted by: Jason Presley | July 08, 2009 at 11:49 AM
I too love my Asus EEE1000 but it is running Windows XP simply because I use it more for genealogy than anything else. I use, and love, AncestralQuest and it requires Windows ergo no Linux no Chrome.
As for cloud computing I work on my genealogy in odd places like libraries, in the air, etc and many/most of these places do not offer w-fi. Which means I need my genealogy program and data on my EEE.
If Chrome, Linux or any other replacement for Windows is going to succeed they are going to have offer a porting tool to help companies with programs written for Windows to be easily ported to the Windows competing system.
I have gone about as far as possible at this point and carry (well backed up) my AQ program and data on a flash drive. Works just fine.
Posted by: Doug Little | July 09, 2009 at 12:06 PM
So what happens when someone buys one of these devices and discovers it doesn't work at home or somewhere else because they can't get a signal onto the internet? As I read it elsewhere, you will have no applications on your Chrome netbook because the OS will run the browser only.
One thing that worries the heck out of me is putting all my data onto The Cloud. It isn't everywhere - it's somewhere very specific and if I have some documents that are out of copyright in the UK but in copyright in the US, what happens when my data gets shipped over to the US?
I also can't wait to see what will happen when Intel try to sell their next generation of chips - if you're just running Chrome and nothing else - why do you want a new chip? Life could get commercially interesting for Google!
Posted by: Adrian B | July 09, 2009 at 01:06 PM
Notwithstanding this new flavor to compete with Microsoft they will find that the reasons 90% of the world uses Windows will continue to be valid. I suspect sometimes, but not always, it is a dislike (hatred maybe) of Bill Gates and Microsoft that drives some of the marketplace. Even a superb company like Apple has only had modest success in competing. But keep trying... competion is always a good thing.
Posted by: John | July 09, 2009 at 05:17 PM
I just read this rant. I know now that you hat Windows-hating and love Apple.
That's okay, but you told me nothing about Chrome OS.
You say word processor and spreadsheet are included, but which one?
What other applications will it run?
Posted by: George Geves | July 10, 2009 at 10:18 AM
You are right: I did not tell you which word processor and which spreadsheet will be included with Google's Chrome OS. I also did not tell you what other applications it would run.
The reason I didn't is because Google hasn't released that information yet. Nobody knows, outside of perhaps a handful of Google employees, assuming that they have already made that decision. I'm not too sure about that, either.
- Dick Eastman
Posted by: Dick Eastman | July 10, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Google has now published at Chrome OS vs. Windows Q&A. See http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/df67c582-6bc0-11de-9320-00144feabdc0.html
Posted by: Dick Eastman | July 12, 2009 at 01:02 PM
Dick,
Your link is to an article in the Financial Times. There is no attribution to any Google source that I saw (but I may have missed it.)
I think that Chrome OS will be another niche OS like Linux, the Apple one and all of the other Unix-based systems.
Unfortunately for Linux, it is STILL, after all of these years, a hobbyist OS. The average person wants an OS that will power up and be able to use whatever printer, scanner, camera, USB drive or other device they plug in with little or no hassle. And Windows fits that bill.
Whether you love Microsoft or hate them you have to admit that they've done one heck of a job capturing the Office Suite, Browser and OS markets.
Posted by: Tennessee Tuxedo | July 13, 2009 at 09:38 AM
Oh yeah, one more thing.
Chrome OS will HAVE to be able to run iTunes, which currently does not run on Linux. Maybe Eric Schmidt (who is on Apple's Board of Directors) can convince Apple to create a special Chrome version of iTunes. If they don't do this, Chrome is dead.
Posted by: Tennessee Tuxedo | July 13, 2009 at 10:36 AM