That's No Moon Browser. It's a Space Station Web Desktop
What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for Web pages and applications, and that’s what we set out to build.”— Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management, and Linus Upson, Engineering Director, Google
“With its view of the Web as a Web of applications, and its multi-process/multi-application design, Google Chrome almost seems more a Web desktop than a Web browser, doesn’t it?” Seems I wasn’t alone in asking that question yesterday, as a flurry of research notes published today suggests.
“We believe the simplicity and open-source nature of Chrome is well-suited to the mobile environment,” Lehman’s Doug Anmuth told clients this morning. “Ultimately, we believe Chrome is part of Google’s overall cloud-based computing strategy as the browser morphs to become the platform of the next generation OS.”
Ovum analyst David Mitchell was even more forthright in his assessment of Chrome as a Webtop in a browser’s clothing.
“What you are seeing is the language of the browser coming very close to that of the operating system, with services provided at the browser level rather than the OS level,” Mitchell said. “If some of the OS functionality is within the browser then there will be a demand for a more anorexic OS running underneath. It is a big step towards telling people like Microsoft that they are not so popular after all.”
Funny, isn’t it? Google (GOOG) has long been rumored to be developing a browser and an OS. Who would have thought they’d be the same thing?