Is Google Chrome OS a Big Deal? Will they take down Microsoft?

TechCrunch says

But let’s be clear on what this really is. This is Google dropping the mother of bombs on its chief rival, Microsoft. It even says as much in the first paragraph of its post, “However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web.” Yeah, who do you think they mean by that?

Google Drops A Nuclear Bomb On Microsoft. And It’s Made of Chrome.

Is it really a Nuclear Bomb? Will it have that kind of significance? The answer is that it depends. There is a major shift about to take place in the personal computer market. Netbooks are about to take over. Verizon already offers one for $1 with contract. Yes, that is $1. So, if you are a regular person who only uses their computer for email and web surfing why spend hundreds of dollars? Most want word processors, but there are web solutions for that, too. Sure, many businesses will still rely on the power of a full computer, but as more and more of their software migrates to web applications, those deployments may become very thin. You could consider desktops in the mold of a netbook. Clearly, this has the potential to be a huge market. The large majority of computers in the world no longer run windows. This is because the mobile phone is now a computer. Microsoft has had marginal success in this market, but has generally been beaten by competitors that offer simpler solutions.

Having already made a mobile play, the question then becomes whether Google can capture the netbook market. Currently, most netbooks run windows. However, that comes with all kinds of complication that the average user does not need (security, software installation, etc). So, it is likely that the OS that ultimately is the solution on these devices will converge toward minimalism. Asus tried it with linux with mild success. However, it was still too complicated and unintuitive. Can Google find the right balance? Will their name be big enough that they can lure consumers? This could be a very interesting question. Also, where is Apple in all of this? WIll they enter this game with a scaled up iphone?

This could be a really interesting battle that ends up with Microsoft on top or losing a very sizable percentage of it’s market share. This really could be the beginning of the end of Microsoft’s dominance. Especially if you look outside of the US market. The again, they could end up cementing their dominance for the near future. Apple has tried for years to usurp windows users with high end equipment. They have had fantastic success recently. Now, though, a new low cost challenger is emerging. The competition is heating up, will Microsoft be able to respond?