谷歌 VS 微软：巨头碰撞

来源: The Economist   编辑: Vicki

7月6日周二晚些时候，谷歌公司官方网站称将将会在今年晚些时候推出一款新的笔记本电脑操作系统，该消息一出，立即在业内引起巨大的反响。众所周知，目前，微软的操作系统约Windows约占市场的90%。虽然近期有所下降，但仍是市场主力。究竟谁将是最后的赢家呢？估计在短时间内不会有结果，然而这来那个大巨头之间的争战必定会给萧条的市场带来不小的冲击。

Google vs Microsoft: Clash of the titans

THE announcement came as a humble blog post on Google’s corporate website late on Tuesday July 7th, but it delivers what is likely to be a dramatic shake-up （骚动，变革）for the information-technology (IT) industry. By promising to release, at some point later this year, an operating system for personal computers the online giant is launching a direct attack on Microsoft, the world’s biggest software firm.

The confrontation（对抗） is likely to be momentous（重大的）. Microsoft’s PC operating system, Windows, boasts a market share of nearly 90%. Although the firm’s empire has been showing signs of decline, it remains a dominant power. Yet industry watchers see a huge threat as the mighty internet company moves into new territory. TechCrunch, a leading technology blog, made it clear how vulnerable it believes Microsoft to be, reporting the news as “Google Drops A Nuclear Bomb On Microsoft”.

In reality it will be more of a slow explosion. At first Google’s Chrome OS（铬操作系统）, as the new software is called, will be targeted only at netbooks, the cheap and smallish laptops （轻小的便携笔记本）that are proving popular. The idea is to provide a compact operating system with a simple user interface that boots up in a few seconds and allows users to work securely and easily with web-based applications, such as e-mail and social networks. This is why the software is based on a stripped-down version of Linux, the popular open-source operating system, and comes with Chrome, the browser that Google released late last year.

And it will take a while for the program to be ready for prime time. “We have a lot of work to do, and we’re definitely going to need a lot of help from the open-source community”, writes Sundar Pichai, the Google executive in charge of the project, in the blog post announcing the new product. The first netbooks running Chrome OS, he explains, will not be available for consumers before the second half of next year.

Yet Google’s intention is clear. It plans to do what the now-defunct Netscape attempted when it launched its first browser in the mid-1990s: to make Windows obsolete and turn the browser into the dominant computing platform. Eventually Chrome OS will be used to power full-fledged PCs. All applications written for the software will be web-based and will work with other browsers that are compliant with the latest web standards (even those running on Windows). Chrome OS would also allow users to work offline and synchronise changes later.

Microsoft has not offered an official reaction yet. But the firm must have anticipated such a move. Google’s assault comes when the once almighty software giant is vulnerable. Windows Vista, the latest version of its operating system, has not been a success. Its forays （突袭）into Google’s main territory, web search and online advertising, have not brought big gains. European antitrust authorities are also still pursuing Microsoft, which limits its ability to strike back at Google.

Yet it is much too early to count Microsoft out. It recently launched Bing, a new search service, which has taken some market share from Google. In October, roughly when Google will make Chrome OS available, Microsoft will release the next iteration of its operating system, Windows 7, a version of which is supposed to run well on netbooks. And the firm is spending billions on a “cloud”, a global network of huge data centres, which will rival Google’s infrastructure and allow Microsoft to offer all kinds of web-based applications.

Will there be a clear winner? Probably not in the foreseeable future. The pockets of both firms are simply too deep. And that is a good thing: the epic fight between the two giants promises to speed up innovation. And that is what the IT industry needs to overcome the recession.

Keke Vew: Chrome OS是一款Google正式宣布处于开发中的基于PC的操作系统。

Google Chrome OS是一款基于Linux的开源操作系统。Google在自己的官方博客表示，初期，这一操作系统将定位于上网本、紧凑型以及低成本电脑。这款开源软件将被命名为Chrome OS，将在明年下半年上市。

Chrome OS系统和Chrome浏览器一样有三大重点要素，那就是速度、简洁、安全，启动和运行速度都会很快，界面元素将会最少化，并且直接集成Chrome浏览器、配合上网本提供流畅的网络体验，并支持Web程序。 Google的网络取代桌面的战略思想将再一次得到贯彻执行。快速、简易和安全将是Chrome OS最强调的三大特性，这款操作系统将设计成为最快和最瘦身的操作系统，只需几秒钟的时间便可启动PC并接入互联网。
　　
Chrome OS将同时支持x86和ARM两种处理器架构。Google保证会在2009年年内提供Chrome OS的源代码，并计划2010年下半年正式发布。