It Could Be The Best OS In The World…
Posted by Stropp on July 9, 2009Yesterday Google announced that they working on, and nearing completion of a new operating system based on the Chrome browser. It wasn’t really a huge surprise, there’s been speculation for quite some time now that they were working on a competitor to Windows. And of course, they already have an operating system, Android, which is used in mobile devices.
Today Google announced their list of tech partners, the companies that they are working with to help make the OS work across the various hardware configurations that it will work on. (See the Wired article for the list).
One thing though, the listed companies were somewhat diverse, listing the makers of different processors, WiFi chips, netbook manufacturers. But I didn’t see nVidia or ATI listed. That just might have been an oversight, but it is a little worrying.
This blog is a gaming blog, I’m specifically interested in MMORPGs but I also enjoy playing single player games from time to time. Gaming is a large part of what I use my computer for. I think it’s right therefore to ask the question. Is the Chrome OS going to support games from the get go?
Chrome OS could be a revolutionary operating system. It could put every other OS out there to shame and make them look like stone age counting pebbles. It could be the best OS in the world, but if it doesn’t support the games I play I’ll be sticking with Windows.
Popularity: 1% [?]
I’m not entirely sure what it is about the announcement that has people all fired up about this, personally. There’s a legion of articles around the Internet that are basically saying “so what”, or are taking Google to task for adding ANOTHER fork to the Linux family, or saying that netbook market is too small to matter,or that if Linux or OS X can’t unseat Windows, what chance goes Google have, etc.
Don’t get me wrong: if/when it’s released, I’ll give it a shot. I’m a gadget/application freak, and have ruined many an OS install by loading up all kinds of wacjy apps
I use Chrome as my primary browser now because it’s fast, so I’m not down on the G. I use Windows for 2 reasons: 1) I’m a .NET developer, and 2) I’m a gamer.
What could open the door for this OS in terms of gaming, however, are the OnLive, OTOY and Gaikai streaming technologies. If the Google OS is streamlined enough to boost network throughput, then that might negate at least SOME of the potential lag that might occur with these technologies, which would make it the PREFERRED OS for those services.
I don’t know that they’re aiming at PCs. You guys like Windows … but if you decided to play on a Nintendo DS or an iPhone, you wouldn’t demand that it run Windows games. If it’s good and it runs on otherwise inaccessible devices, people will write games for it.
Your last point is a very good one. If ChromeOS does target browser or other streaming games then there is every possibility they will be on a winner. We get all riled up about PC games versus Console games, but the truth is more people play those silly little flash games than play World of Warcraft. If Google hit that target they’ll do well
But away from the netbook side of things, I’m not sure how many people will take it up. There are a ton of other applications out there, both games and personal productivity apps that will be troublesome running over a browser. And then there’s the issue of data storage. Google Apps currently stores my data on their servers. Online. How many will be prepared to store all their personal data online?
Time will tell I suppose.
@Spinks – true, but that’s dedicated hardware for the purpose of playing a game. I don’t demand that Windows runs DS games either.
I believe that higher end PC support is the longer term goal. It might not be when they release late next year, but they’ve said that they’re looking at support for bigger systems
As for liking Windows. Well. I guess it’s what I’m used to, even if I do some Linux/Unix at work. But personally, I’m OS Agnostic. I could care less what OS I use as long as it runs the apps I want to run out of the box – no messy setting things up. (I think that’s the attitude of most people actually.)
[...] Stropp: @Spinks – true, but that's dedicated hardware for the purpose of playing a game. I don't demand that Windows runs read more… [...]
Add A Comment
Subscribe to the RSS Feed For These Comments