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Google's Android To Challenge Windows?
PL/SQL Guy writes "Search giant Google is set to offer its free Android mobile-phone operating system for computers, opening a new front in its rivalry with Microsoft by challenging the dominance of the company's Windows software. Acer Inc., the world's second-largest laptop maker, will release a low-cost notebook powered by Android next quarter, said Jim Wong, head of information-technology products at the Taipei-based company. Calvin Huang, an analyst at Daiwa Securities Group Inc, says that adoption of Android-based netbooks will likely eat into Windows' share of PC operating systems."
Meanwhile, notes reader Barence, Asus is continuing to distance itself from Android, saying it "isn't a priority."
Not really true, unfortunately. I know this is just anecdotal but I've a few friends who were just getting into linux and they had nothing but trouble with installing on recent laptops.
They're pretty smart folks and somewhat tech-savvy, so I can't imagine someone's mom or grandmother trying to do the same.
There is a growing willingness to attack the Windows+Intel+Dell+Apple cartel. Well, Dell is already history. Intel did well with Atom but it's a temporary victory that in fact opened a market segment where ARM-based CPUs can significantly beat Intel ones. And the winning combination is Android + ARM, with long battery lives, Google's guarantee of world-class applications, and massive funding into the open source platforms needed to make it work.
Of course ASUS will produce Android smartbooks when the time comes, but for now they're getting fat discounts on Windows for their loyalty.
Very exciting times, I feel that thin cheap netbooks / smartbooks, and thin cheap VESA-mounted nettops already handle about 80% of the use cases I see. Only a few people need a multicore machine with huge disks.
I wonder how Intel is going to respond to this, but my guess is they will embrace Android and buy ARM.
I agreed with your analysis otherwise, but this battle is just starting... We haven't seen usable preinstalled linux netbooks yet, and if we do get those they are going to be a very hard curve ball for MS: Microsoft wants people to move from XP to Windows 7, which is going to mean a price hike because of hardware demands and another for the more expensive OS.
My guess: If Moblin et al can match or pass Windows 7 in UI design and general usability (something that should be possible in a segment like netbooks), the easily available applications and significantly lower price are going even out the inevitable compatibility problems...
But android on a netbook? That just sounds like they are going to try Qualcomms snapdragon and can't really run proper desktop applications without slowing to a crawl.
my guess is that he meant windows mobile.
Lost perhaps in the fervor over "eating into Windows' share of PC operating systems" is the fact that Microsoft doesn't seem to -- or doesn't want to appear to seem to -- care.
Although it may be a case of CYA, or a byproduct of some Wintel partnership fine print, Microsoft has said it has no plans to port a PC version of Windows over to the ARM core, in a sense leaving the whole "smartbooks" market Linux and Android.
And though it may be true that an Intel deal, a desire not to eat into its own Windows netbook/notebook revenue, or the difficulty of porting a worthwhile version of Windows to ARM is at the heart of this deference to Android, you have to wonder whether there is some grain of truth to the fact that it is 'hard to create new categories' of technology, as Microsoft is claiming in relation to its stated disinterest in "smartbooks."
If people want Windows, they can have Windows. However, I'll be more than happy to stick with the rarely-used Windows installation I already have.
How often do you use a full-blown OS while you're waiting at the fast food line? Not very often, I'll bet. Why not simply leave the bloat at home or in the office? Most of us would be happy with relatively simple things like a good web browser, email reader, and a cheap old rich text editor, and if you're going to blur the lines between phone and netbook, why not add phone functions to that list? All of those things are things that will come to Android, and it basically takes care of the "necessities" on the go.
As far as the luxuries on the go, you might be able to squeeze a DVD drive into that sub-netbook. Wireless connectivity can be used to connect to the heavier iron, making things that people use at work and home accessible (take for example: MS Office or programming tasks).
VNC is not out of the question; the most you may have to do is bring your little charger around with you. The bigger question than VNC is how to make it accessible to the masses? I'd think that's easy. Google has the connectedness to be able to tell one computer where to find another computer, all you'd need is the connecting software. Granted, it's not quite like having a laptop right in front of you, but it allows the casual person to be able to take care of things at home, including checking on the shopping list.
Let's face it; we're not limited to the world of x86 netbooks. smartbooks (or sub-netbooks) can be the tool of choice; capable of things that you wouldn't even be able to do casually with your favorite phone or Windows-based laptop variant. I know that I'd ditch my laptop for a smartbook that can do the works, even if I have to do some things remotely.
There are no perfect answers, only the right questions. More questions at http://foresightandhindsight.blogspot.com/