The Mission of Chrome: Destroy the Microsoft Eco-system
It’s pretty obvious that the folks at Google didn’t developed Chrome to challenge other browser giants such as Firefox or Internet Explorer. Instead, it has further means. With Chrome, Google is able to create another Internet Develop Platform on Windows, to build a new Eco-system.
Currently, many applications are developed based on the Windows API and it’s an Eco-system which is built by Microsoft. This is also the reason of that Microsoft can control desktops for so many years. Every developer must use the Windows API standard and no other alternatives, otherwise it could not be reached out to users.
Any corporation out there who intends to beat Microsoft in terms of operating system market share must destroy this Eco-system balance first by simply pulling loyal users away from Windows. To reach this tough goal, this corporation must first let developers not depend on the Windows API standard.
Therefore, I think the most important mission of Chrome is to destroy the balance of the Eco-system based on Windows API which is built by Microsoft for many years. The search engine titan must do this first by making Chrome look more attractive for web application developers to give up the Windows API, and develop based on Chrome instead. Next, make use of the power of developers to promote Chrome to ordinary users like you and me, so that let they need not to depend on Windows anymore.
That may be the real intention of Google.
Analysis: Google don’t need to build an Operating System
Many people believe that Google must have an Operating System to win Microsoft. However, I don’t think so. Google need not to develop another Operating System from scratch, and in the present, it’s pretty impossible for any corporation to built a Desktop Operating System which is way better than Windows.
Server-side applications is easy to transfer and convert, and users cannot really feel the difference at all. But in desktop, the story would be different. A desktop operating system without applications’ support means a complete failure. As a result, Google will not make such a silly decision.
Sun used to make use of Javascript to beat Microsoft. However, Microsoft had successfully prevent this disaster from happening. Frankly speaking, the Windows creator is very afraid of Javascript, because if Javascript becomes common, everyone will use Javascript instead of the Windows API. As a result, Javascript will be another better standard to let users give up using Windows. So Microsoft rejected Javascript to be run in Windows directly, and this is the reason why many scripts cannot be run properly in Internet Explorer.
Since Google don’t have any good opportunity to replace Microsoft, the only way it can do is by destroying the Eco-system of it in another smarter method. Apple made the wrong move by putting an operating system fight directly at Microsoft. The main focus of “killing” is to win the hearts of the majority Windows users, but on the other hand not allow users to use another Operating System because users cannot change their habits that easily. Chrome can run on Windows, so users don’t need to change their habits and use the new applications which is developed for Chrome. After a long time, when a lot of users are using Web Applications instead of softwares based on the Windows API, they do not need to use Windows any longer, because Chrome can run on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
Therefore, Chrome may use 5 years to let Web Applications depend on Chrome instead of the Windows API. For example, Google Docs is supported on all browsers, but you may notice that Google Docs is really like a software in Chrome. And I think there will be many applications like Google Docs in the future.
If more than 80% applications can be switched to the Chrome Platform, who will use Windows then? Windows costs a bomb, and it will be no better than others because all the things can be done via Chrome, and Chrome need not to depend much on Windows too.
Linux can be easily changed to your own version, even Mac OS X is written based on FreeBSD (An Open-Source Operating System which has a different license from the GNU Linux). Android is written based on Linux too, Google do not need to start all over again.