Not Yet Out: Microsoft Reportedly Still Working on Chrome OS Rival
Posted on 28. Mar, 2011 by Daniel Cawrey in Chrome OS, Features
Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of companies are now talking about cloud operating systems? HP has one called WebOS. Motorola was reportedly working on one, and then says that they are not. Intel is working with a consortium on one. Google’s Chinese search rival Baidu is working on one. Am I missing any other companies?
Well, what about Microsoft?
It would make sense that Microsoft would try to develop their own cloud-based operating system. What’s the risk? They could just ship it with their own Windows product as a way to continue to reap licensing fees from it as a packaged whole. That actually sounds like a pretty smart idea.
The company is supposedly working on a project dubbed ServiceOS, which will make its debut after Windows 8. This actually sounds a lot like the strategy HP has been plotting whereby every machine the company sells with an HP logo will come with WebOS. Microsoft would be able to add their ServiceOS (formerly known as the Gazelle project) to pretty much every other manufacturer’s Windows-based device.
Microsoft is not a stranger to the cloud. In fact, when it comes to the masses probably the first place the concept of web-based computing was heard of with their “to the cloud” campaign. And in terms of enterprise solutions they have had their Azure platform available for some time by offering service hosting that companies can build around.
This cloud strategy makes sense for Microsoft: with their ServiceOS project they will be able to unite users’ Windows-based devices whether it’s a PC, a smartphone or perhaps even an Xbox, storing user data right in the cloud. Companies that already use Microsoft solutions may find this to be just another useful add-on that could also be integrated into the Windows Server product that many organizations rely on.
Prompted by Chrome, Microsoft has taken steps to significantly update its Internet Explorer browser in the latest version 9 release. The company has made a big push to make this a better browser than its predecessor, adding significant HTML5 support and a new JavaScript engine that is called Chakra.
That refreshed browser can power webapp unlike older versions of IE. The company has even had its mainstay Office software available online as a webapp for some time. Called Office 365, it’s expected to come out of beta very soon and be offered to customers with a tiered pricing plan. If it were cheap and as good as regular Office, they might be on to something with that paired alongside the ServiceOS platform.
But while Office 365 is going to arrive soon, ServiceOS is expected to come out after a Windows 8 launch. That is not expected until 2013. As many of you probably realize if you follow this space, two years from now we’re probably going to see a very different tech market than the one we see right now. By then we might all be doing all our work from smartphones and tablets. Maybe.
Also, ServiceOS is expected to have a large OS layer, one that is bigger than Chrome OS. What really makes ServiceOS anything more than a browser running on top of Windows? Where’s the innovation there? Does that mean Microsoft is just reducing the minute-plus boot time of Windows to half a minute with ServiceOS?
And what of the companies that continue to get caught in this ecosystem? Thinking that ServiceOS could become a competitor to Chrome OS even though it is so far off and no one has actually seen it before sounds like total vaporware. Who knows what kind of licensing will be required to be integrated with Microsoft’s cloud strategy with this one?
Finally, ServiceOS sounds like somewhat of an outdated model at this point. Yes, it might be great to be able to sync all of your Microsoft-sanctioned devices, but has anyone else reading this noticed that everything is now on the web? I’m not even sure of the last Micrsoft web service that I logged in to. It was probably Hotmail years ago.
Look, I credit Microsoft for trying. A little competition never hurt anyone, but the fact that they are working on something to compete with Chrome OS is likely to find some way to satiate their sales people when companies threaten to switch to a Google or Chrome OS solution down the line.
Either way, we’ll find out more about Microsoft’s plans in 2013 when Windows 8 is launched. Or 2014. Or. Never. Because I’ll be blogging with some currently non-existent technology by then.
via The Register
3 Responses to “Not Yet Out: Microsoft Reportedly Still Working on Chrome OS Rival”
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Ophiussa
28. Mar, 2011
The only thing I know is that in the future (hence by 5/6 years) everything will be paid … even the air that we breathe and the struggle for the oil will give way to the fight for water (…).
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