It feels more and more likely that Google Chrome OS will be upon us very soon. There have been mutterings throughout the industry that the first Chrome inspired netbooks are being developed and they may be out just in time for Christmas.This must mean that the finishing touches are being applied to Google Chrome OS over at Mountain View and this is evident in many developments that are happening online.The most obvious addition to the Google homepage is that you can now customise it with any image you wish.
This obviously mimics the fact that we can customise our wallpapers on our desk and laptops. It also leads me to believe that any normal ‘desktop’ will be eradicated from Chrome OS. Obviously OSX rarely uses the desktop (due to the dock) and you should be encouraged to use it as a temporary storage space rather than a hub for shortcuts (as Microsoft would prefer).Also, new subtle upgrades and additions to Maps, Docs and Gmail make these pages look more like the web apps that they are and further away from web pages (what they are in essence).
For example, drawing has been added to Docs. This shows that Google are looking at all the bases that they currently don’t cover and are merely filling in the gaps.What’s left? Widgets like a calculator?The one burning question though, is that if everything is online and stored in the cloud – will I have full access to Chrome OS via the Chrome browser; or Safari for that matter? Would buying a Chrome OS netbook be eradicated?Or will Chrome OS replicate the lightweight applications that have been developed in a minuscule hard drive of a netbook. This will allow users to work offline and upload seamlessly when they are next connected?
Time will tell, but as Chrome browser takes chunks out of the market share, are we going to see a similar occurrence in the OS war?
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