The Folly of Google's Latest Gambit
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The author chides Googles for having two OS's with overlapping marketshare, yet seems to forget about WinCE, XP, XP Embedded, Vista. There is certainly more than a bit of overlap there.
And of course, like every other upcoming version of Windows for the last 15+ years, this next version (Windows 7) is going to be the end-all OS, with all the bugs and issues and whatnot worked out. We heard that about Windows 95, and 98 and 2000 and XP and Vista, yet it never really seems to hold true.
I personally think Google has a really solid shot at this. Microsoft just doesn't get it, their overhead is too large to allow them to charge a fair price for the product and still turn a profit. Apple is their own island and (IMO) doesn't really want or need to be a threat to the computing world at large, they target a successful and profitable niche. Linux is just too disjointed to ever become mainstream, that ship has sailed. But Google, they have the R&D power, the marketing savvy and the ability to create a universal OS that could directly challenge the Windows franchise, and I think the world is ready for it.
Google has developed so much of their own technology already, that an OS is probably not a major departure for them.
I don't know about you, but I want my OS to do more than just launch a browser and that's it.
People ridicules Windows 7 starter edition for only being limited to launch four programs only, but when google makes that number one, everyone is applauding?
I don't get it.
Anyway, since we really have next to no detail, I guess this is all wild speculation, so discussion has somewhat limited interest until we get something solid.
As for Windows beeing doomed... I kinda doubt thousands of companies worldwide is going to ditch their current platform, all their current software and jump on something entirely new and unproven.
If Linux failed as a desktop OS against Windows (with massive centralized administration features) in the corporate world, how will a Linux distro with even more trimmed down feature set going to be appealing?
In fact, ActiveX is mostly just ignored today.
So, by "doomed" I'm assuming you mean "not affected in any meaningful way".
WinCE is targeted at very small devices, like handhelds, GPS units, and smartphones. XP Embedded is targeted at computer-based devices used in non-computational settings for limited tasks (i.e., ATMs, arcade machines, kiosks). Vista is an upgrade to XP.
Expecting a bug-free OS from Google is a stretch. Remember Android? Google put a chunk of brainpower and marketing muscle behind that, and it's nowhere close to being bug-free...and it's already been out for a year.