As I surmised in a previous post (Restrospectives on 2008 and Prognostications for 2009), Google announced a new Internet-oriented meta-operating system in 2009. OK, well, I predicted that they’d release it, not just announce it. An announcement is nearly as good as the real thing, right? Microsoft does that all the time!

It’s really a bit freaky. Last night I was discussing the upcoming operating systems, including Google’s, with my wife, Jen. (That’s right, guys, be jealous. She’s a gorgeous blonde and she tolerates my geek side.) The freaky part is that we were talking about it at the exact same time that Google made their announcement.

OK. It’s not that freaky. Statistically, it was even probable. I talk about operating systems almost every day, and non-IT people (like Jen) talk about how much operating systems suck almost every day. At the time, she was wishing that her MacBook Pro’s OS was more like her new iPhone. She said something like, “Is Windows this daunting, too?”

(I assured her it was worse. Either she accepted that as fact or she smartly decided not to debate it.)

She continued, “The iPhone is so intuitive. Everything is so easy to use. Why can’t computers be like my iPhone? I don’t really need all of that other stuff.”

“Ah ha!” I said. “That’s exactly what Apple and Google are working on…”

The new OS will be radically different

Think about it. Does it make sense for Google to release yet another Linux-style operating system? Not at all. Why would anybody except Microsoft haters and Apple-phobics use it? No chance.

Unless, of course, it’s radically different. Now we’re starting to make some sense.

It’ll have to be consumer-centric. Corporations are way too slow to adopt anything new, even obviously better technologies.

And what do most consumers want? Let’s see…

• A care-free device (no viruses or malware threats)
• Fast, easy access to their favorite apps (email, social networks, chat)
• Low cost (or free)

That’s a very short list, isn’t it? Of course it is! That’s all most consumers need. In the early days, operating systems were for nerds and geeks, programmers and scientists. Geeks need power. Geeks need control. Geeks need to have a multitude of ways to accomplish a task and need not to be told to pick one. Geeks want it all.

Consumers just want to keep up with the social aspects of technology and to have fun doing it.

What will set Google apart from Apple’s iPhone and MID (Mobile Internet Device, whether it emerges as a tablet or a MacBook Mini) is that it will be almost entirely Internet-centric. All of its built-in applications will, naturally, be Google apps. Gmail, Chat, Calendar, Docs, Picasa (photos). That’s why they’re calling it Chrome OS, named after Google’s fledgling browser, Chrome.

An astute person will now be asking, “Hm, why did they build a browser that runs on several operating systems, if they really wanted to make a whole new operating system?” Here’s why:

• The browser will be central to the operating system, so it’s good to get some expertise in browsers, first.
• The distinction between browser and operating system has been getting blurry lately. Why not make it even more so?
• Users of other operating systems should be able to enjoy the same advanced features that a browser-based operating system provides when using Internet-centric apps.

These postulations lead me to think that we’ll see more even browser-OS integration in the near future:

• More support for OS-integrated notifications (e.g. Growl on Mac OS X, system tray popups on Windows).
• More support for multi-threading and multi-process management to do some of the heavy lifting needed by typical desktop applications.
• Location-based services (like the iPhone already has).
• Offline support for those times when you can’t even get a cell phone signal.

What?!?!?! Most of this stuff already exists in browsers? Well, the future is now, baby!

Let the browser-OS confusion begin.

So what will Apple and Microsoft do?

Meanwhile, Apple and Microsoft will strive to stay relevant in this Internet-centric environment. Apple will have the easier job of the two. Their lustful machines are hard-wired to their operating systems. To the average person, it’s all part of the same package. They buy the Apple experience. Who cares if some of the apps are online?

Microsoft, on the other hand, is getting squeezed. All of their efforts to kill the Internet, control it, and monetize it are failing. Meanwhile, Apple is raking in all of the top-end revenue from consumers who can afford to buy into the Apple experience. And soon, Google will swoop up from the low-end with ultra-cheap, but capable systems.

I can’t wait to see what happens next.