Over on Connected Internet, Mike has posted some screenshots of what is rumoured to be a leaked early build of Chrome OS. From the Google Chrome OS screenshots you will see that it is very, very basic although Google have always said that Chrome OS would be a very lightweight OS for netbooks, so this is to be expected.
Should Microsoft be worried by Chrome OS? I think they are, because in order to keep the costs of budget devices down hardware manufacturers want low OS costs and we can see this in the number of devices already shipping with Linux, and this is why Microsoft created Windows 7 Starter edition to try and keep these manufacturers within the Windows fold and to counter this threat.
Google Chrome OS could be ideal for 2nd/3rd devices in the home, where customers do not want to pay for an additional copy of Windows 7. In fact, it could even be suitable for a main device – I now work full-time online for a living and a rebuilt my main PC a few days ago using the free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate I was given last week. I was in a rush so post installation I only installed the essentials – Google Chrome, Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, iTunes for my iPhone 3GS, Filezilla and Notepad++. So far I’ve survived, and apart from iTunes I’m sure I would be able to install or support similar applications and file formats with Google Chrome OS. Long-term I know I won’t be able to and I’ll have to complete my PC build, but if it meant saving a few hundred dollars maybe I would rough it out.
Do you think Google Chrome OS will be a threat to Windows 7?
