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Google takes on Microsoft with OS
Google Chrome pulled up on a Web browser
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TEXT OF STORY
Stacey Vanek-Smith: It is all out war in Silicon Valley. A month ago, of course, Microsoft launched a search engine called Bing. That was supposed to compete with Google, and in a blog post late last night, Google hit back -- the search engine giant announced plans to get into the operating system business. Marketplace's Dan Grech reports.
Dan Grech: It'll be called Google Chrome OS. OS stands for operating system, the standard software that controls most operations on a PC. Google said in an official blog post that its new operating system would be defined by its "speed, simplicity and security."
This latest move by Google is aimed at Microsoft's jugular. The operating system is at the heart of computing -- and it's the foundation of Microsoft's business model.
The announcement has already raised questions about Google's dominance in computing. Google CEO Eric Schmidt says his company's focus is consumer choice. He spoke to Marketplace's Kai Ryssdal in an interview recorded last week:
Eric Schmidt: We feel as long as we are really focused on consumer benefit, in other words, if the action we take really does benefit the average consumer, that the rest of the industry, the rest of the government will get around that, because consumers speak in democracies.
Google Chrome OS will first appear on netbooks in second half of 2010. No response or blog posts yet from Microsoft.
I'm Dan Grech for Marketplace.
I heard 2 versions of the 8AM show re Chrome OS - in one the proprietary software of Microsoft was as secretly guarded as McDonalds' special sauce and then an hour later it was as secret as Coke's secret formula - which is it guys, Coke or Mickey Ds?
Yes, this good for the consumer, but will platform manufacturers (e.g., Dell)offer choices? And what about businesses who typically spend millions on technology? In this current economic environment, businesses are doing all they can to cut cost. It seems a little premature for a new OS product offering.
This is terrific news. My worry is compatibility of all the programs specifically designed for windows and how deep and wide Microsoft's "moat" truly is in the OS arena.
To Jim from NY: It isn't too much of a stretch to view consumption as a form of democracy. After all, the phrase "vote with your dollars" speaks directly to this. Microsoft has had the benefit of near monopolistic competition since inception. Competition can only be a good thing for consumers as it usually encourages better products and cheaper prices.
Well, it could be a good thing. Unless you're in Redmond, WA.
