Chrome OS or Android??
Google has announced that there will be a Chrome OS delievered sometime in mid 2010. What does this mean exactly? Well the first thing I thought of was how does this play with Android?
Now Android is the OS and API platform designed for cell phones that probably has the best chance of stealing market share from the iPhone. Ok understood, but Android available on netbooks. If so then we are hitting a bit of any overlap. If it has been demonstrated that the functionality of Android can port to a netbook (and by extension any internet based device) wouldn't it be fair game to make that the direction development should go? Instead of changing a browser into an operating systems (?!) why not port the strengths of Chrome directly into Android? According to Google the differences are enough to warrent the development of both systems:
Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google.
I can understand from a development perspective why it is beneficial to keep the two projects seperate but I think the general populace is not coping well with the sudden burst of popular operating systems. Usually it was just the standard Windows but within the past couple of years Mac OS, Ubuntu, Vista, XP, Windows 7 have been part of the nomenclature and now two entires from Google with Android and Chrome. The first year of Chrome was a good showing but many people still don't know if its existance. Take the Google Chrome icon promotion of late. Chrome and Android are both still trying to get a footing amongst all the competition.
For the advanced user another OS to mess around with is great but if the Google branded OS is going to do what Google did for search it would be better if it was only delievered in one option.
