There's a big fight brewing in the world of technology.
It's going to be a battle for market domination, product recognition and most of all, for every computer's very heart and mind. In 2010, a new contender will step into the computer operating system (OS) arena and try to hold its own against the two top heavyweights in the world.
Now that you're all riveted with the compelling and visceral drama unfolding in the world of technology, let's go over some dry computer terminology.
An OS is essentially your computer's interface. It's the middleman between the machine's hardware and its user. Currently, it's either a version of Windows from Microsoft, or Apple's Mac OS that's on most computers.
Well, there's also a hugely popular OS called Linux, too. But it's really only popular with programmers and much bigger geeks than me, so it's never been cool enough to count. It also sounds too much like one of Charlie Brown's friends to really be taken seriously.
So, up until now, and unless you're an über geek, you're either a Mac or a PC, just like in those pithy commercials. Well, soon you can also choose to be a Google.
The company most known for its search engine announced this month it would develop a light computer OS devoted to using the Web. Slated to be called Chrome, the OS is based on Google's web browser of the same name, and not surprisingly, bits of Linux.
You can't very well take on Windows and Mac using their own technology. It's sort of like borrowing a cup of sugar from the neighbour and then promptly dumping it into his gas tank.
Chrome will differ from Windows and Mac's OS by adopting a more minimalist approach. It is being designed primarily for users who spend most of their time on the Internet. "Cloud Computing" has been reported to be a big part of Chrome's design.
Although it sounds like a course Harry Potter would take, Cloud Computing is essentially computer services or applications that reside on the Internet instead of on your computer. Facebook could be considered Cloud Computing, because it hosts your photos, email chats, etc. It's also sometimes referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS). Chrome will take advantage of this concept to hopefully create a leaner and lighter OS.
It'll be interesting to see how Chrome is welcomed by users into the market. Up until now, there have only been diehard Windows or Mac users and few in-betweens in the mainstream. It's hard to even know who to root for, because it isn't even going to be some David vs. Goliath fight.
Google and Microsoft are known as the "giants of the digital revolution" and Apple is immensely popular as well, so it's going to be a Goliath vs. Goliath vs. yet-another-Goliath-for-good-measure type of thing.
But no matter who triumphs in the grand battle for market dominance, all this competition in a once stale market means it's consumers who are going to end up the winners.
