Google OS vs. Microsoft, and John Buried Paul

I consider buzz like this akin to the rumour that Paul McCartney had died and was replaced on the Sargent Peppers Album cover.

Of course Google has an operating system. Everybody knows that. It’s called banks and banks of rack mounted datacenters loaded with server-side web apps.

This time I have to agree with Scoble. Why on earth would Google want to go into direct competition with Microsoft for a desktop OS? They are already making money hand over fist carving out their own empire with their online web operating system.

Then again we can always wish. But that is all it is - wishful thinking. Bill Gate’s vision was a computer on every desktop with a copy of Windows on it. Google’s vision is a web OS for everyone that has an internet connection.

It’s pure genius.

Afterthought: After thinking about it, for now there is still plenty of room for the two behemoths without danger of clashing. But as the lines become more even blurred between the desktop and always-on broadband internet, and as Microsoft makes its apps and operating system more integrated with the web, sooner or later there is going to be a clash of the titans… and that will be exciting to watch indeed.

Any takers on who the winner will be? That of course will depend on how savvy Gate’s successors are. And considering how Google just keeps on growing and growing and… it certainly won’t be a matter of who has deepest pockets that’s for sure.