This week there was news that Google is coming out with a Linux based operating system to challenge Windows on certain devices, like low cost netbooks. This is a good thing. Linux itself could never pose much of a challenge to Microsoft because the various Linux distributions were way too small and lacked the money and resources to pour into things like device driver development, device support, or even partnerships which would bring so called “killer apps” to Linux. Linux was more successful on the server side since it is a fabulous server operating system. Windows Server has gotten better over the years, and it is a much more robust platform than it once was. It is also very easy to administer. Linux is more powerful and just more of a multiuser operating system.
Back to the desktop. As an IT guy and UNIX devotee, I tried Linux as my desktop for several years. It was good fun, but I grew frustrated with the lack of things like video codecs and device driver support. I eventually went back to Windows as my desktop OS as windows became more stable. To go off on a minor tangent, Windows NT 3.51 was very robust. Then to make it better for gaming and to succeed Windows 9x on the desktop, they took devices like graphics and moved them to Ring zero of the kernel, thus making the whole thing more crash prone. They also were careless with their service pack updates. The infamous Windows NT 4 Service Pack 2 broke many systems so bad that you couldn’t log in, and in many cases cause the more infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). I swore off Windows for several years after that. I worked in a software company where we got all of the Microsoft OS’s in prerelease versions, and could see it improving after Microsoft was forced into some internal reorganizations when Bill Gates had to eat crow too many times in public due to Windows crashes and all of the bad PR they were getting. It slowly came back. They started testing service packs more, having limited releases to certain customers and external testers before releasing them out for general consumption. Windows XP was very good. I like Vista, but many people still feel that Windows XP is just a better workstation/desktop OS. Windows 7 is supposed to fix Vista’s perceived flaws.
So, here comes Google. Google is taking the rock solid and fast Linux OS and combining it with their own technology. Will it unseat Windows? I’m sure that many Microsoft execs are not sleeping well at night these days. Google owns the Internet, and they are now poised to make great strides on the desktop. They have the deep pockets to augment Linux and fix it’s desktop flaws, as well as make it “sexy” enough for mass consumption. They have to be careful though since if they mess up, it will damage their brand.
I am impressed with the Google web browser, Chrome. It is light weight and nice for quick browsing. I am interested in the form that this Google-Linux will take. I can hardly wait to load it on an old PC and take it for a test run. That being said, Google has proven that it can be very evil in the realm of search engine based Internet domination. They have the power to ruin Internet based business overnight, on a whim. Since they are the biggest web search player, and Internet traffic is king to many online ventures, a simple change up in their search algorithms can literally ruin many people’s hard work in an instant, if they, say, vanish from hard won search rankings. Their constantly changing Adwords keyword charges and page rankings have also become somewhat burdensome. They defend this by saying that they are only looking out for the web surfers and minimizing SPAM, but this is not always the case. They are so huge, and frankly I don’t like any one player being too huge.
So, I am glad that Google is challenging Microsoft, which will make Windows better and keep Microsoft honest, and I am equally glad that Microsoft has introduced their Bing search engine to at least try to challenge Google. I do think that Google is far more of a threat to Windows dominance than Bing is to the Google search engine.
Only time will tell how all of this will play out, but you never know. When Google was new you could have never convinced me that they would be what they are today. You never know who is thinking up the next big thing in their garage startup company.
