4 reasons Google Chrome OS will succeed

Everyone awaits the Google Chrome OS. I've been tracking it right from when I saw the first leaked screenshots. I even, for a short while gave the Flow version of the Chrome OS a go, after installing it on a flash drive. It was amazing, though it messed the flash drive up after I deleted it. Of course I fixed it.

In case you don't know, Google Chrome OS is an operating system being made for netbooks. It's practically the Google Chrome browser built on the Linux kernel, that gives the user a browser based OS, while (almost) everything resides online. It will come with low-cost computers, and will probably be available as a free download too. It is being developed by the people who made the open-source Chromium browser, which you probably know as the rebranded Google Chrome.
See also: What's the difference between Google Chrome and Chromium?



Here are some reasons I believe Chrome will really succeed, in no particular order:

It's light, and free:
The Google Chrome OS is targeted towards low-cost, low-powered laptops, and maybe even tablets. So, it will be light, and not resource hungry. It will run on practically any computer, just like Linux distributions such as Ubuntu. If it does come out as a free download, you can use the browser-based system to revive old PCs in your house. Being light also means that it will boot at super high-speeds. Depending on the system, it may just be faster than the new MacBook Air, with Instant On.

Because the OS is based on Linux, and essentially free, the laptops that will come with it pre-installed will be a lot cheaper than Microsoft's Windows based computers.

It's open-source:
The OS is based on Linux, so it's open-source. All the apps (if any) will be open-source as well. So many people like open-source. It has its own advantages too, apart from being free. Open-source software generally has a lot of users, so there's abundance of community support. People say that there's higher security too.

Photo from O'Reilly Media

It's all synced:

Image from Spectral Core

Google Chrome already has amazing sync features, though they may not be as good as Firefox Sync, that's integrated with Firefox 4. But you still have your bookmarks, no matter where you go. You use your Google Account to log in, and all your settings, bookmarks (maybe even apps) are available in seconds.

What does this mean? You use a friend's Chrome OS, and you have all your settings and bookmarks. You go to a public computer with Chrome OS, and you have your browser there in front of you. There's a lot of potential.

Everything synced means that you can use Chrome on your Windows based computer, or Mac and you can travel with the Chrome OS on your netbook, always in sync.

All in the cloud:

Photo from Cloud Computing Leaders

Nowadays, for most people, it's all in the cloud. People are slowly moving towards online storage, apps and services. You probably use a web based email service, online social networking, online photo sharing and maybe online backup. That's being in the cloud. The Google Chrome OS is made in a way that people will slowly switch to the cloud. It will be integrated with major online services.

As I mentioned in the previous point, that everything will be synced. That happens in the cloud too. Your Google Account will slowly become your online identity, and wil help you log in from everywhere, and get you your browser on any computer.


For all these reasons, I believe that the Google Chrome OS will be a big hit. But I don't think that with the current state, it will become anybody's primary operating system anytime soon. Hope you enjoyed this post. If you did, do subscribe.

4 reasons Google Chrome OS will succeed