The Google OS announcement

Everyone seems to be going crazy about the new Google chrome operating system. Most of the reports are either saying that it will replace Microsoft, or will only replace Linux as a niche OS offering.

I take a completely different view on this. The important thing is that Google have the business mussel to make sure that there is a choice of OS on computers in the major retailers. When there is a choice of operating systems there will be unstoppable pressure for retailers to offer other choices. This is where the other Linux distributions will get their opportunity. And once the choice is put in front of the non-technical public MS wont have a chance. The range of choices and the speed of development will leave any closed development offerings behind on presentation and functionality, especially if there is a price differential for the Microsoft option.

Microsoft have bought back the netbook market with reductions in price for Windows XP, and probably lots of unethical, or illegal deals with OEM’s. Linux offerings on netbooks have largely disappeared, and the only offering is Windows.

Predictions for 2008

Everyone seems to be making predictions in the tech world. Kind of a new year thing. So here is some from me.

WiMax will fail

WiMax will fail in the market except for the USA where it will limp on for a couple of years before being replaced by 3G HSPA type network or its successor.

Miniature notebooks will explode and all be running Linux.

The wow around the One Laptop per Child’s XO pc is just starting to build. Those in the west that have seen one are certainly impressed and not just children are impressed.

Then there is the Asus eeePC that is getting rave reviews from everyone, not just because it is cheep, but because it is a well designed and executed machine. When we think about a networked storage model, then you need network connectivity when out and about, thus feeding the need for mobile broadband.

Mobile Broadband will be huge this year.

Up until now it has been a company road warrior thing. Quite expensive, complicated to get working. not much faster than dial-up. I think that there are now enough of a base users who have been making do with hot spots and all the complexity that entails with different groups each wanting a payment or subscription.

Will it be Vista or Linux

I have seen a number of well researched blogs and columns from respectable magazines now seriously contending that Linux is better than Vista. These are not coming from the Linux advocates any more but from the mainstream media.

This eWeek article is a bit of a MS bash, but Steven Vaughan-Nichols article over at Desktop Linux is a very reasoned argument, even if it comes from a Linux advocate. Steven points at another column at eWeek by Joe Wilcox, a bit of a rant against Microsoft, but also points out how much better the Linux distributions are.

One of the most convincing arguments for Linux over Windows in general is David Wheeler’s Look at the Numbers article. It is very detailed, and argues that in every possible objective measure Open Source beats propriety.

And then there is the very well researched paper by Peter Gutman looking at the content protection issues in Vista.

I have been talking to Jon Bentley of The Gadget Show who seems keen on doing a piece on ubuntu for the show. At least he was until he saw this badly researched article in The Inquirer, saying that Dell were dumping their pre-installed ubuntu options. Dell have refuted the story saying that it was only a few broken links on their site. I thought proper journalists were supposed to check their stories, and it was the bloggers who were to blame for all the miss information on the net.

Perhaps 2008 really will be the year of Linux?

Openmoko Mobile Linux

I have been following the open Moko project and the qtopia greenphone for a while. We also have Nokia launching the N900 tablet all employing Linux.

But it comes as a surprise that Ubuntu is launching a version for mobile smartphones or Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) as the industry is calling them. They have teamed up with Intel and some new low power chips that should develop some interesting applications.

It is interesting to read through the discussions on the Open Moko list as these can be very wide ranging. Fro instance a recent discussion on the size of the audio jack on the device, was it to be 2.5mm or 3.5mm. Most phones have 2.5mm jacks, but the 3.5 jack is the standard for mp3 players. The arguments ranged from using an adaptor, to routing of audio and microphone when a Bluetooth headset is there as well as the wired headphones.

The detail of the arguments and discussions I am sure are far more extensive than would ever take place in a closed development environment. This should result in much better design decisions and a better product, that only an open development could achieve. I have seen how hard it is to get feedback from customers who have purchased products, so giving people a stake in the open development process seems to generate much more feedback.