The future of the computer operating system
The computer operating systems currently running PCs are based on a model that is years old and goes back to the time when PCs were stand-alone systems. As the Web has become the dominant application for PCs, this out-of-date model is more and more a mismatch to how PCs are actually used. Progress to something more suited to what PC users actually need has been delayed by the vested interests of Microsoft and other members of the Windows ecosystem but the pressures for something new are building.
For example, Google’s Chrome operating system, while still in development, may be indicative. For example, Saul Hansell wrote at the New York Times:
Google’s new Chrome operating system is a challenge to Microsoft in several ways. It will offer a free rival to Windows, which can add $25 to $100 to the price of a computer. But it also represents a conceptual slap at the elaborate array of features that make up the soon-to-be-unveiled Windows 7.
Chrome OS will be positively minimalist by contrast. It will be built on a simple version of Linux that is meant to run only one application: the Chrome browser. Google’s idea is that anything for which you may have wanted a separate software program can be done within the browser instead. Never mind all the other functions and add-on programs you find in Windows.
Of course, Microsoft isn’t idle and there are others who are looking ahead to a slimmer operating system. CNET has an article, Microsoft, Google, and VMware redefine the OS, that describes developments in the enterprise area and concludes:
Between Microsoft SharePoint, Google Chrome OS, and VMware vSphere, we’re in for real innovation in what “operating system” means. While this shift will take awhile, leaving traditional vendors plenty of time to make money in traditional operating systems–hey, companies are still making money in green-screen software–the future of the operating system is almost certain to look different from vanilla Windows, Linux, or Unix.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.