What will Microsoft do if Google created an OS? - Ajarn Forum

Mr. Computer · 7th January 2007, 07:30

I recently was reading a conversation that started with this title. I thought this is interesting. Microsoft's biggest threat (one of them) is Google. I'm one to believe that the future of computers lies on the Internet where Google is King, by this I mean that there is a trend to develop applications that "run anywhere". Actually, One of Microsoft's top guys left to go to Google and Microsoft sued the guy for going there and maybe sharing "secrets". The battle is on I think. So, what's stopping Google from taking a framework like Linux and get cracking on their own OS. I mean, Microsoft builds an OS around a Browser and we see how many problems we have with that, how about Starting from the Internet/browser concept and then build an OS around that.

If google came out with an OS, bundled with Google Office ( i would presume it would be Open Source), would you get it?
I like this quote from Ryan Stewart at ZDNet.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Stewart/?p=23

"Through all of this I think Google has the most to gain, and is the farthest behind, from a rethinking of the operating system. They have been busily buying companies and building web applications that could change the way we all do business. If businesses are creating all of their documents with Google software and storing those documents on Google’s servers, then it gives the search company the kind of leverage that Microsoft enjoyed in the 90s."

expatwannabe · 7th January 2007, 15:46

Office applications are not Google's core competency, despite their claim to be a "technology company."

Microsoft would eat their lunch.

DirkDiggler · 7th January 2007, 18:21

if google did that , they would probably go in the same direction as microsoft eventually.

but i think their main selling point would be recognition of the name google and people would relate the name for a trusted brand.

imo i see google coming down from their ranking in a few years...the way their spiders crawl for relevant info during a search...is starting to turn people away....and becoming more and more money motivated...

Jasper · 7th January 2007, 21:05

Why would google build their own OS when they can support good Linux distributions? Don't google make their money from advertising?

djchemi · 7th January 2007, 22:50

^^^^ That's the thing with Google. They're pretty much a monopoly in an oligopoly market of search engines, but they're barely make any money. (Please don't disagree on this because I've done researches on this).

However, I feel Microsoft has nothing fear from Google, as history has proven that most of the times when a company decides to stray from its core competencies it's more likely to lose. If I were google, I'd stick to providing varrious internet-based services rather than trying to compete with Microsoft who has already earned brand equity and has great core competencies in the OS business.

SageAndOnion · 8th January 2007, 02:54

I would agree with djchemi (yikes, did I really say that?) and expatwannabe. Microsoft have a far greater expertise and a lot more experience in OS and office applications. They have the technical staff and the money too. Google does not. You can't knock up an entire OS over a lunch time and it isn't their area.

Mr. Computer · 8th January 2007, 07:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by DirkDiggler

if google did that , they would probably go in the same direction as microsoft eventually.

but i think their main selling point would be recognition of the name google and people would relate the name for a trusted brand.

imo i see google coming down from their ranking in a few years...the way their spiders crawl for relevant info during a search...is starting to turn people away....and becoming more and more money motivated...

True. This whole Google Ads business is turning into a real pain. It's like having Spam Web-Pages. You know what I mean? You search and then the top hits are webpages of nothing more than Ads so that Google can make more money. I wonder if they create an OS, will it be full of Ads in the corner? Google might laugh at the gossip on GooOS, but it doesn't necessarily have to be an OS as we think of it. It could be that we move to a WebOS, like a virtual Operating System? As YouOS , Goowy, DesktopTwo? A web-based Desktop? Then you have GooOS... Affraid it might turn into SpamOS?

I mean, I think if you put most people in front of a computer and disconnect the internet they wouldn't have much use for it, so we might see a change where you turn your computer on and immedialtely you log on to your OS, provided, in the future, they can make this work (hardware, connection speed, etc).

DarenM · 8th January 2007, 10:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by djchemi

(Please don't disagree on this because I've done researches on this).

When people make these kinds of comments, I have a very hard time NOT disagreeing... even if they're right. How about some proof?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SageAndOnion

You can't knock up an entire OS over a lunch time and it isn't their area.

Very true. What about the idea of building an online OS based on Linux though? No easy task, but still, is it easier than building an interface from the ground up? You bet!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Computer

You search and then the top hits are webpages of nothing more than Ads so that Google can make more money. I wonder if they create an OS, will it be full of Ads in the corner? Google might laugh at the gossip on GooOS, but it doesn't necessarily have to be an OS as we think of it. It could be that we move to a WebOS, like a virtual Operating System? As YouOS , Goowy, DesktopTwo? A web-based Desktop? Then you have GooOS... Affraid it might turn into SpamOS?

I mean, I think if you put most people in front of a computer and disconnect the internet they wouldn't have much use for it, so we might see a change where you turn your computer on and immedialtely you log on to your OS, provided, in the future, they can make this work (hardware, connection speed, etc).

I would hope that users wouldn't tolerate an OS with ANY ads built into it. I, for one, wouldn't touch such a program. It'll be up to the users to demand a higher standard of software, that is if Google ever does take a serious run at Winblowz.

As for spam websites, I agree that they're an irritation but I can't remember a time when the internet wasn't full of adverts and spam of one type or another... maybe back in the very early AOL days??? But then, even many of the old BBS's were full of junk advertising for other boards and crap.

The point is that within any framework individuals will endeavor to exploit any and all potential loopholes. The draw of making a quick buck will guaranty thousands of unwanted phone calls during supper, tons of wasted paper in the mailboxes of unwilling recipients, and terrabytes of spam flying around the world everyday. No matter how air-tight a system may seem, there will always be people who figure out a way to take advantage of that system. In a way, that's the true beauty of humanity.

defender · 8th January 2007, 10:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Computer

I mean, I think if you put most people in front of a computer and disconnect the internet they wouldn't have much use for it

Very true -

LDMA · 8th January 2007, 10:54

Quote:

I would hope that users wouldn't tolerate an OS with ANY ads built into it.

They said that about Gmail, but that was got over fairly quickly once they learned it was free and came with tons of space.

DarenM · 8th January 2007, 11:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by LDMA

They said that about Gmail, but that was got over fairly quickly once they learned it was free and came with tons of space.

A good point, however I see an OS and a free webmail service as significantly different. Ads are tolerated in email accounts because they're standard in all of the major sites I know of (Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.) But they're not commonplace in any OS that I know of.

Can you imagine....? What if every time you opened counterstrike ads for the newest games popped up on the side of the screen? Yuk!

Eric C · 8th January 2007, 12:05

If anyone could knock up an OS over a cup of coffee at lunch it's Google. They arguably have the biggest brain-trust out there by a long shot working for them right now. It's not just one top executive that's left MS for Google it's several of the most gifted engineers and a few top execs leaving that's caused the 'brain-drain' at MS. When the MS super-star VP exec in charge of Asia marketing notified Balmer that he was leaving last year Balmer said "please tell me it's not Google." When the former exec admitted it was he got a chair thrown at him and Balmer vowed to "crush Google." A long time ago Google developed their own file system and their own distributed computing software to manage the massive amount of data they deal with. They keep dozens of copies of the entire internet in various data-centers all over the place. Their system is set-up to handle multiple machine failures even multiple cluster failures at any time without a hiccup. Fail-safe. They don't toot their own horn about this very often but there's a couple articles about their set-up out there if you search for it. This just scratches the surface of what Google has done. There are many many projects that their genius engineers have in various stages of completion, some done just for the hell of it, that may or may not ever see the light of day. Google has probably forgotten more about innovative software application that MS has ever known. MS doesn't really get anything right out of the gate but Google almost always hits a home run with the first pitch.

No doubt the future is in internet delivered applications then some sort of internet based OS that will render our boxes little more than simple terminals. Mounting storage requirements alone will necessitate the shift. I don't know how long the transition will take but technologies like 802.11n which is about to be finalized and cities offering WiFi to their residents will definitely be key. I can envision the day that internet access is free and what you pay for is the internet application delivery subscription.

You can bet that Google is investing plenty in online application delivery research and probably has some of their brightest minds working on it. The difference between them and MS is that Google probably won't make the mistake of releasing it before it's ready. Have a look at Google Docs for a preview of what it might look like:
http://www.google.com/google-d-s/tour1.html

Lastly I think it's very interesting that Google's CEO Eric Schmidt recently joined the board of directors at Apple. Apple is another company with excellent brand recognition and they have a rock-solid *NIX based OS that sports the best and most intuitive GUI a *NIX will ever have.

It's possible that it won't be Google or Apple that dethrones MS but they will not dominate the computer world forever.

traveler2 · 8th January 2007, 12:45

I think Google is more than capable of putting an OS together (I know for a fact), however it is going to be tough to get users (MS) to switch over. It better be good if they do in fact proceed with it. They would have to top MS by leaps and bounds which isn't an easy feat.

sawadeekarb · 8th January 2007, 13:35

This thread's question could be better answered by computer users who actually own or use every day another platform type of computer that is NOT Windows.

There are actually still computers on the market since the mid 1980's that are not Windows, like the Acorn (RISC OS) computer and the Amiga computer..... see here ......

http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact1777.html

I have been and still do use Acorn computers since the early 90's. The number of Windows users today and the wealth of it's company is uncomparable to the 20,000 Acorn users worldwide. A modern Windows computer system by comparison of development, wealth and shear number of users to a computer like an Acorn computer's design is realistically to Windows as a disgustingly poor design computer (still is after so many years).

If Google wants to market it's own OS computer desktop system in competition to Windows, then it better be completely different and more like a reliable, stable and user friendlier Acorn computer. No point competing against the Window's design, OS, Desktop style and stupid way of thinking.

No, I do not "hate" Windows (not completely, really) I use the horrid machines at my school. If you own or use another platform type of computer you will see the Windows endless problems.

Don't re-invent the horrid wheel please Google.

Steve.

SageAndOnion · 8th January 2007, 14:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by traveler2

I think Google is more than capable of putting an OS together (I know for a fact)

How exactly do you know this for a fact? What are your qualifications and experience in the IT industry that led you to make this statement?