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Android and Chrome OS are MERGING!
Google wants to bring Android to laptops by merging it with Chrome OS
For years Google has been a two-man show when it comes to operating systems. First there was Android for smartphones and tablets, which is the most used OS on the planet, and then came Chrome OS, a browser-based light operating system that only runs on low cost laptops called Chromebooks. Unlike the wild success of Android, Chrome OS accounts for less than 3% of computer operating systems worldwide.
Still, despite the wildly different usage statistics, it was a shock to the tech world earlier this week when the Wall Street Journal revealed that Google is set to merge the two operating systems by 2017. As the WSJ reported: “Alphabet Inc. ’s Google plans to fold its Chrome operating system for personal computers into its Android mobile operating system, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign of the growing dominance of mobile computing. Google engineers have been working for roughly two years to combine the operating systems and have made progress recently, two of the people said. The company plans to unveil its new, single operating system in 2017, but expects to show off an early version next year, one of the people said.”
Of course, this news raises some serious questions: what will a merged Android and Chrome OS look like? Are Chromebooks dead? And why are Google doing this? Here’s everything we know.
Why is Google doing this?
Let’s start with the big one. Google is merging the two OSes, primarily, because Android is so damn popular. It’s the most used OS on the planet thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices. But Google also knows that despite the prevalence of tablets and smartphones, many times the perfect device you need to achieve a task is a laptop or desktop.
Even though Google has Chromebook laptops, it knows most of the world turns to Windows PCs, followed by Apple’s laptops and desktops when they need to work on a device that offers more than a smartphone does. That could present an issue for Google in the future as both Microsoft and Apple attempt to unify their device offerings. Microsoft’s Windows 10 will work across desktop and mobile, making working on and switching between the devices more appealing. Similarly, Apple has worked hard in recent years via improvements in OS X and iOS (such as Handoff and Continuity) to make working on and sharing documents between devices simple. Though Google has a stable platform in Android, it has no real alternative when Android users want to work on a full-fledged desktop OS–and Google is worried that as Microsoft and Apple work to unify their devices, that could lead to people leaving Android for solutions that are part of an ecosystem across all device types: smartphone, tablet, and desktop..
As the WSJ points out, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, who spearheaded the development of the Chrome operating system in 2009 and then went on to oversee Android in 2013 recently said “mobile as a computing paradigm is eventually going to blend with what we think of as desktop today.”
In other words: Google wants to make sure it’s got a solid foot in the desktop game–and the light browser-based Chrome OS just isn’t going to cut it any more.
What will a merged Android/Chrome OS look like?
Good question–and one that there is no answer to at the moment. Clues could perhaps be derived from the Pixel C, which is a hybrid tablet-laptop that runs Android. However, the Pixel C is essentially just Android with a hardware keyboard–not a new desktop version of the OS.
The ultimate merged Android/Chrome OS will most likely retain the look and feel of Android, but add a more desktop-like file management structure (think Finder in OS X). It will also almost certainly support universal apps since the WSJ says the main goal of the merger is to get more Android apps running on the PC (right now Chrome OS can run some Android apps, but few developers are porting their apps over due to the lack of a large Chrome OS user base).
What devices will a merged Android/Chrome OS run on?
It’s likely it will run on all Android smartphones and tablets as well as PCs. What isn’t known is if the merged OSes will only run on Google-authorized laptops (a new rebranded version of the Chromebook perhaps) or will be installable on Windows-based PCs. There’s also the possibility that it might be able to run on Macs, just like Windows can now run natively on Mac hardware via Bootcamp, but we’re not sure Apple would allow this.
When will the merged Android/Chrome OS come out?
The WSJ states that the merged OS will ship sometime in 2017, so it’s still almost two years away. However, it will probably be shown off at next year’s Google I/O, which could make Google’s next developers conference the most exciting in its history.
So are Chromebooks dead?
No. And neither is Chrome OS, according to Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President of Android, Chromecast, and Chrome OS. After the WSJ broke the news Lockheimer tweeted “There’s a ton of momentum for Chromebooks and we are very committed to Chrome OS. I just bought two for my kids for schoolwork!”
Google also reached out to the Verge to clarify that Chrome OS is not being “killed”. Instead it will continue to be developed and maintained by Google alongside the merged Android/Chrome OS operating system.
Similarly, the WSJ reported: “Chromebooks will get a new, as yet undetermined, name, the people familiar with the matter said. Google plans to retain the Chrome name for its Internet browser, which runs on both PCs and mobile devices, they said. Chrome OS will remain as an open source operating system that other companies can use to make laptops, and Google engineers will continue maintaining it. However, Google’s focus will be on extending Android to run on laptops, according to one of the people.”
And that’s really all we know for now. But one thing is for sure, the Google/Android ecosystem is going to get much more interesting in the next few years.
10:51, 30 Oct 2015