Microsoft always knew Google would be a threat in the online and apps world, but it probably didn’t think Google would threaten its operating systems hegemony, at least not in this manner. After a few years of promoting the whole on-demand/cloud concept – wherein the client OS becomes irrelevant – Google now is taking on Windows itself with Chrome OS. Don’t believe it? Check out ServerWatch and decide for yourself.
Google has been making public its aspirations for Chrome OS in the past few days. Reading between the lines, it’s pretty clear that it hopes to replace Microsoft as the chief supplier of enterprise desktop operating systems in the coming decade.
Talking at a press event in Singapore last week, Caesar Sengupta, Google’s product management director for the Chrome OS project, said the company is counting on wooing smaller businesses first because they tend to “behave like consumers.” Google envisions that larger enterprises will adopt the company’s model later, as they become more comfortable with the cloud. Here’s why the plan will probably work:
1. Google has more money than you can shake a stick at, and it can use as much as it likes to make this happen
2. Google is well on the way to replicating all the key things Microsoft did to get where it is today
The first point is pretty straightforward. Google is making billions every year from its advertising business, and this positive cash flow shows no signs of abating — far from it. ‘Nuff said.
