Idle Speculation

Since Google’s Chrome OS has been announced and the idle speculation of what this will mean for Microsoft has begun, I want to share my two cents worth, as the owner/user of a netbook, and someone who supports several non-tech netbook users.

Recent articles have said that this is an aim by Google to take over the low end of the market, by targeting the underpowered netbooks.  Maybe.  If so, it is going to be harder going than the pundits are realizing.

The tech oriented users, like me, have more on their netbooks than just the OS.  I have a few simple games that I like, as well as a few productivity tools, such as Windows Live Writer, which I’m using to create this post.  (Some would argue that posting to a blog isn’t productive, but that’s for a later post.)  The games in the Linux world are certainly available, and similar to what I’m currently playing (card games, slot machines, puzzles), but they aren’t as polished and professional looking for the most part.  I like what I like, and playing the game I’ve grown fond of on the netbook as well as on my desktop machine is important to me.  Since Microsoft owns my desktop, I want to play Windows based games, and use Windows based tools.

For my non-tech friends for whom I am their user support, they want something familiar.  They don’t like learning new ways of doing things.  Even I complain about the Microsoft UI and how things work in Internet Explorer, but getting them to switch to Firefox or Chrome isn’t going to happen.  I know, I’ve tried and I’ve suffered for it.  Tech types also know about the problems with Microsoft’s use to web standards in rendering pages, but when users get used to seeing something, they always want to see the same thing.  Complain as much as you like about the way the web portal for Outlook renders on Internet Explorer versus the other browsers, but my friends want to see the IE version, not the Chrome or Firefox version.  They will never install a game on their netbook (unless they make me do it for them) and will probably never consider any productivity tools.  They truly will just use it for surfing and email, but they want the surfing and email to look exactly like, and work exactly like, their desktops at work and home.

Apple has aimed at the top of the market, and this gives them an income and some bragging rights.  Google might be aiming at the bottom of the market where they will promote speed and simplicity.  Microsoft might be in the middle of the market, but just like my body, it is a HUGE middle, and the folks there are comfortable with what they have, and want that same comfort and experience.

For Google to succeed, it has to convince the buyers/users of the devices that they are doing something “different” just like they do something different when they use their smartphones for email, texting, surfing, etc.  On the phones the UI is different, and folks learned because they were told they had to learn, there was no other way.  By the way, when users get to see Windows Mobile, and see that it works very much like their desktop, they do get hooked.

It is going to be fun to watch.