NEWS
...been abundant but it wasn't clear Google would go as far as creating a product branded as a full-on operating system.
On the software side, one hint was Gears, a plug-in to give browsers the ability to run web applications even when offline.
Next came Chrome itself in September 2008. Google said its ambition with the open-source browser was to make the web a faster, richer foundation for web applications. Naturally, Gears was built in from the outset, and Google continues to bang the web-applications drum loudly.
Then there was Native Client and O3D, plug-ins that let browsers tap directly into the power of local processors and, if all goes according to plan, match the performance of PC-based applications. Native Client is for the main computing chores, and O3D is for hardware-accelerated graphics, and Google wants to build Native Client at least directly into Chrome.
The other set of clues came from the web side of the company's operations. Google's cash cow is selling ads alongside search results but the company has been trying for years to build a portfolio of web-based applications that people could use for everyday computing. Google Docs offers a web-based word processor, presentation and spreadsheet, and Google Apps bundles that along with Gmail and Google Calendar.
One of the primary advantages of Google's cloud-computing approach is that data is available from anywhere you can find a networked computer - or, increasingly, mobile phone. It also permits more natural collaboration, since multiple authors can work on the same document simultaneously rather than emailing variations or sharing them on a central server. And with data stored on the net rather than on a PC, upgrades and laptop theft are relatively painless issues.
The disadvantages are abundant, though. Web applications are slow and primitive compared to those that run on PCs, network access is far from ubiquitous, familiar applications are missing, years of accumulated files and data must be migrated to a new system, and not everybody is prepared to have precious corporate or personal information housed at Google or other companies.
The net is a different place than when the Sun's JavaOS and network computers flopped in the marketplace, and Google is powerfully profitable. But many of the original challenges remain.
