Linux needs Chrome polish

Google's made a lot of promises about Chrome OS, but when you look through the official blog post, one thing sticks out: "Google Chrome [runs] within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel".

It's easy to look at this and rewrite the whole Chrome OS announcement as, "Google launches a version of Linux". Put like that, it suddenly doesn't seem all that revolutionary or, if I'm being honest, interesting. But then I started thinking, and maybe the whole point of this project is that Google is launching Linux, which can only be a good thing in the long run.

I'm a big fan of Linux. It's free, stable, works well and provides a decent alternative to Windows for a lot of jobs. The one problem with it is that there are simply too many flavours of it, each with its own interface and way of doing things.
This is fine for people who love Linux and find a version that they're happy with, but for normal everyday people, it's confusing. There's no one place to look to find out how to do something in Linux, as Linux is not a standard operating system like Windows is.

The other thing is that Linux inherently frightens some people. We've even heard stories of people taking netbooks back to the shop because they wanted Windows and not Linux. With Google behind a Linux-based operating system things could really change.

Google is a company with almost unlimited funds. When it sets its mind about doing something it does it properly and with style – just look at Gmail and Google Maps. It's not just about quality, but branding. With Google there's a multi-national brand that people trust; Linux just doesn't have that.

With a trusted brand will come more ready acceptance of a new operating system. That and the fact that Google's got enough clout to get netbook and PC manufacturers to sit up, pay attention and start selling kit with Chrome OS installed.

The one thing that Google needs to do is learn from Apple: with OS X Apple created an operating system based on Unix (essentially a full-on enterprise version of Linux) for people used to soft, fluffy and easy. If Chrome OS can do the same thing with Linux and fool the mass population into not even realising that it's Linux they're running, it could be a massive success.

If that sounds like I want traditional Linux to fail, that's not true. Chrome OS could be good for Linux in general. Once people get Chrome OS and like it, they may start to look deeper into the OS and slowly become accustomed to the way that Linux works. Once that happens, you never know, people may then want to 'upgrade' and start using a full Linux distribution.

Even if this doesn't happen, the fact of the matter is that there's a massive company threatening Microsoft's dominance. That has got to be good news, whether it means that Microsoft has to become a more competitive company with better products or that it annoys Steve Ballmer so much that he throws another chair across his office.