In not unexpected news, Google’s decided to bring bland, boring UI and perpetual beta software to your PC! Here’s the actual announcement link.
C’mon guys. I mean, okay, Chrome is super fast and great for people who want a fast clean browser to hit up your usual pron sites. But, as the basis for an operating system? Web apps are advanced but not that advanced. And, don’t give me this bullshit about iGoogle being a great UI. Google’s UIs have generally sucked more than anyone cares to admit since they’re free.
Google’s UIs have largely been uninspired, drab, and utilitarian. Do you really want that for the OS that you’re going to stare at (ideally) at work and at home? Sure you’ll run other apps so some of it will go away but you’ll still see it. And don’t tell me to wait for a third-party to fix it…that shouldn’t be a requirement.
Tell you what, if you’re still running XP, go change the look and feel from the Windows XP Style to the Windows Classic Style. I’ll wait a sec…wait for it…waiting…cue screams of terror. Simplistic overly utilitarian designs are crap. No one buys Apple computers, phones or iPods because they’re drab and designed for utility over looks.
And, OS reliability and performance? You understand why your Google Searches are fast…there IS no OS. They use a bare-bones stripped down Linux OS that likely has NO UI…they probably terminal into it. Besides, half their products are still in beta and unless you’re paying a premium good luck when they go down. Redundancy isn’t going to help you at home with a single computer. They’ve got thousands. It’s like the difference between losing a neuron or your entire brain…guess which one is more noticeable.
Then there’s compatibility. What browser are you using? What word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software are you using? Any of them say Google on them (no not the friggin search field)? Of course not. Sure you use Google all the time…it’s called a search engine. You know why you use it (outside of the fact that it worked better than all the others that are long gone or trying to re-launch themselves as something better years too late)? Because you can use it in ANY browser. FireFox is not Google. Put that hand down.
So, why rant about this? Actually, it’s not what you think. Sure I think they’re going to make a shitty OS that will be like, I dunno, every Linux GUI created or the BeOS or something, where it’s cool and interesting but ultimately not what you use everywhere else in life. Naw, that’s not the problem. It’s not that it’s adding competition to the OS market. That’s actually GOOD. It’s about time someone who actually has a chance (i.e. has money and is a household name) gave Microsoft a run for their money. What about Apple you ask? What about them? All this time…especially the last few years with the iPod and iPhone. What’s their marketshare? 10% for the OS? 8% for the Macs themselves. And, their PCs are still too expensive compared to everyone else (okay, maybe not TOO expensive but still on the high side of comparables).
No, my problem is that Google’s OS stands to lower the bar on OS prices. Good you say? Good for you the consumer, sure. You pay less. But, you know you get what you pay for right? Think about it from another perspective. You know how you’ve got that fancy graphics card in your machine? How you like to play Halo, Crysis or something more fun like COD? If it weren’t for the fact that game devs weren’t trying to achieve crazy like making reflective water or reali
stic blood or something, you’d still be using a 64kB chip sitting on the motherboard…staring at spinach green or amber text while you tap out a document or read some mail. Then you’d fire up Pong or something stupid because no one wanted to bring out the best of the machine in front of you…they just wanted to make money off a cheap OS.
Is it the end of the world? Naw. It changes the playing field and like I said, it’ll light a fire under Microsoft’s ass so they might actually try to innovate finally instead of creating bloated malware. We’ll have to see but I’m warning you: keep an eye on Google’s OS…it might turn your screen into a blob of pastel boxes with lots of Google Ads all around the edges. You heard it here first.
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