Will Chome OS be dead on arrival?

After reading Android Has Won — Time for Chrome OS to Move Along? by Om Malik I started to wonder - has Chrome OS failed to launch before it has shipped? This may seem to me at any rate a very real possibility because of the momentum Google has built up with hardware partners developing smartphones running Android. I feel that Chrome OS will find it's niche in the market and not be silenced by Android.

Om Malik has taken a different view point.

I don’t want to hate on Chrome OS. I just think Google needs to pick a winning horse. And the winner here is clearly Android.

Quote 1: I just think Google needs to pick a winning horse, Credit Om Malik.

I feel that Android is developing into a more utilitarian operating systems for embedded systems running on mobile phones, navigation devices, e-readers and tablet devices. Chrome OS however will become an operating system specialised in web based content viewed on netbook and possible tablet devices. I think the distinction is important. I find typically analysts and bloggers conflate use-cases and create unnecessary consternation in the blogosphere.

For me Chrome OS is secondary or tertiary operating system running on a WiFi enabled device used on the coffee or kitchen table by consumers who desire a physical keyboard and trackpad but require the flexibility of smaller devices. I feel that despite all the sabre rattling from Google at I/O Android will become the platform developers choose to power innovative applications for set top boxes, smartphones and e-readers. But Chome OS will become the operating system or browser that we use on small lean forward devices by users with lesser demands.

If this distinction can be maintained I think that Chrome OS will become a compelling alternative on cloud centric devices with the complications of more traditional computing solutions. The only danger for Google is dependent upon how it is marketed. If Chome OS is marketed as a fully feature operating system it will fail because it is simply not be the case.

Links

1. Android Has Won — Time for Chrome OS to Move Along?

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