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Cloud Computing - Google Chrome Operating System

Cloud computing is a model in which programs are used over the Internet and accessed through a web browser, rather than being installed on a PC. Data resides on servers across the Internet, rather than on their PC. The computation, software, data access, and storage services do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services. The Chrome operating system is being built on the Ubuntu-Linux platform; the stated design foundation is speed, simplicity, and security. Google has stated that it will make security a high priority with Chrome and be redesigning the underlying security of the operating system in order that users do not have to deal with viruses, malware, and security updates. Google has announced that the Google Chrome OS will just work. Given the history with every major operating system having experienced security flaws and patches, SYS-ED staff and CETi Technology Partners will be evaluating white papers and performing our independent assessment of the roll-out of the Google OS.  Google source code has been released to the open source community.

The Chrome operating system has been designed for computing devices ranging from netbooks to full-size PCs. Google's stated commitment is to provide the Chrome OS on full-powered PCs after it has released the netbook version. It will not be possible to install client-server apps on Chrome OS. The Chrome OS is a separate project from Android, which is a Linux-based smartphone OS.

It is a foregone conclusion that Google will develop its Chrome into a functional operating system for running web applications. Google is ideally positioned to create a better user experience in a software environment it manages and controls. It has developed web applications for documents, spreadsheets, messaging, and more used by millions of people. Google has the APIs and the experience in client code with Google Gears, and in operating systems with the smartphone oriented Android, to develop an operating system which integrates web application with netbooks and PCs. Google has developed Native Client, which is its own open source technology for running code written for a specific hardware platform. Native code has significantly more capabilities than JavaScript in a browser.

The web browser has simplified the way that applications are accessed, however, there is considerable complexity in bridging web software and device hardware. A cloud OS will need to manage device resources, networking, security, files, the user interface, and applications. In order to develop and support a cloud operating system that combines the benefits of desktop CPUs and web applications it will be necessary to address technical issues with real-time audio and video synthesis and physics simulations, local audio/video analysis and recognition, multimedia editors, high-throughput cryptography; and app-specific data compression. The Google Chrome operating system will be optimized with web applications and software as a service.

In November 2009, Google demonstrated an early version of the Chrome operating system on a netbook and released the code for the operating system available as part of an open source license. The Chrome OS is similar to the Chrome browser. It has been augmented with smaller application tabs for running heavily used programs such as e-mail or calendar software. A netbook using the Chrome OS operating system booted in seven seconds. Google did not provide an authoritative list of hardware manufacturers that will be building the machines with Chrome as the pre installed operating system. The machines running the Chrome operating system, for reasons of a controlled roll-out, likely will be limited to lightweight, portable computers not running desktop applications other than the Chrome browser. Google believes in the superiority of web applications and that cloud based applications and software as a service will eventually replace desktop software. A working version of Google Chrome has been selectively released for testing in 2010. The projected launch date for retail hardware featuring Chrome OS has been moved back from late 2010 to mid 2011. In the short-term, devices on the Chrome operating system will complement and compete with workstation application software.

Google Chrome and Software as a Service and Web Apps

The target market for the Google Chrome OS are users who spend most of their time on line with web applications. It’s designed to boot in a few seconds and apply local caching and processing for times when users are disconnected from a network or otherwise working offline. Chrome is designed for fast wireless access to the web. In terms of the competition, a dozen mobile operating systems, including Google’s Android, are already positioned for that scenario.

Google has made progress in solving the problems associated with getting client apps and Web apps to work together and behave consistently.

The critical issues will be:

Instant-On Operating System and Chrome OS

Ever since the release of PC and MS DOS in the early 1980's, the amount of time and the number of lines of code in an operating system has been a significant component in the usability of an operating system. As a frame of reference, Microsoft Windows 3.1 had 6 million lines of code and Microsoft Windows Vista 50 approximately million lines of code. Depending on the configuration of the operating system, an operating system can take several minutes to load Windows, open a browser, and access the Internet to retrieve e-mail. With netbooks and laptops competing with fast-access smartphones as mobile computing devices, numerous studies have indicated that an instant-on capability will be increasingly important.

Instant-on will be part of the Google Chrome OS. However, there are instant-on operating systems that coexist with MS Windows - SplashTop, Phoenix Hyperspace, and Xandros Presto. Each can access the MS Windows file system in dual boot mode and load Office documents. Instant-on operating systems also deliver energy savings.

Microsoft Operating System Response to Google

Microsoft is committed to expanding its commercial line of software to include cloud computing technology. The Microsoft strategy is built upon the assumption that cloud-based programs will coexist with traditional PC software. MS Windows Live provides a range of Web- enabled capabilities from messaging to data storage, while new online versions of Office will compete with Google Apps. Microsoft is also building Windows Azure cloud services for the data center.