I have been using the new Google browser for almost two weeks. You might have heard a lot of discussion about this new browser all over the world. People are looking to Google to deliver a new browser to combat Microsoft’s dominant Internet Explorer (IE), especially as IE Version 8 is on the way to official release soon.

I perceive this differently. What I have in my view is Google actually delivering its own OS (Operating Systems) to drive its applications – the applications that are now being delivered to its customers in the form of online applications like Google Apps.

Some people call this idea “cloud computing”. The concept is of future networked computer users having all their applications installed on networked servers, serving needs everywhere, so that users will never need to install the applications on their own computers and/or on their own office network.

There are two features that enforce my conclusion that Google is using to pave the way to use Chrome as a cloud computing OS.

The first feature is its own task manager. If you press the “Control” tab at the right hand corner of the Chrome Browser’s window, then select Developer → Task Manager, you can bring up Chrome’s own task manager to manage the opened tabs or windows of Chrome pages. This is an exciting feature. While it allows you to easily manage all opened pages under Chrome, I can also envision it as a real “task manager” to use Chrome to open and manage many online applications in the future using the Chrome windows.

The second feature is Chrome’s surprising capability to be installed on a computer by a user without administrative rights. Many Chrome users are not even aware of this. I can see this is a strategic tactic of Google, allowing you to install and use this browser on any public computer, even if you do not have administrative rights on that computer. This brings you a fast browser that has the possible future extensions of incorporating many of Google’s or its partners’ online applications with a single click of the button within the Chrome browser. With Chrome, you can use any of Google’s applications without hassle in any computer in the world, as long as it is connected to Internet.

Perhaps you can also see what I mean by looking at the actual design of the browser. The Chrome designers try very hard to get rid of the space consuming and cluttered tool bars that you commonly find in IE and Firefox. Chrome tries to give you as much space as possible for your “browsing” (or “application”) use. This also contributes to the feeling of using an OS instead of a browser window under Chrome.

These are the reasons why I think the release of Chrome is more strategic in nature. It is not merely a browser, but a future cloud computing platform. It is a platform that aims at attacking the lucrative application business of Microsoft, especially the Microsoft Office Package.

It will be interesting to keep our eyes on how Google will use this new OS platform in the coving future.

Tags: Google Chrome, Microsoft IE, IE 8, Chrome Task Manager, Google New OS

Tags

General Marketing, Google