Intel eyes Google, but Microsoft is mainstay
Intel is endorsing Google's future Chrome operating system, but the chipmaker is being cautious as it already has a successful strategy supplying chips for Windows-based mobile devices.
Last week, makers of processors based on the ARM design, such as Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, were quick to cheer the news of Google's Chrome, which is slated to first appear on Netbooks in 2010.
"We're thrilled about the news that Google just issued," Ramesh Iyer, TI's head of worldwide business development for mobile computing, said last week. "You can see how simple the user interface is and how easy it is to access stuff," he said, referring to current Google applications available on the Web. "Think of (Chrome) as the next-gen of all of that."
Intel was more guarded in its statements. "We welcome Google's move," said Intel spokeswoman Claudine Mangano, but added: "We try to ensure Intel processors run on a variety of software." Chrome is slated to launch simultaneously on both ARM and Intel processors.
Though Intel is officially software agnostic, unofficially its chips are inextricably linked with Microsoft's Windows software as the hardware half of the most popular hardware-software PC platform on earth. And Intel's Atom is already the processor of choice for the most popular Netbooks worldwide from Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Toshiba, Sony, Acer, and others.
Atom will hold more than an 80 percent share of the 23.5 million Netbooks sold in 2009, according to a report released Monday by the Information Network, a New Tripoli, Pa.-based market research company.
Most of those Netbooks run Windows--which Google is looking to displace. "Consumers buying Netbooks so far have voted Windows," said Jeff Orr, senior analyst, mobile content, at ABI Research, in a phone interview.
The ARM chip camp is hoping to link its processors with Google in much the same way Intel is associated with Microsoft's popular Windows software. "Coming from the ARM side, they lack a Windows XP, Windows 7 solution," Orr said.
ARM processors are supplied by chip manufacturers Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, among others, and power devices such as the Palm Pre and T-Mobile Android smartphones, respectively. The Information Network projects that the ARM processor will gain a 55 percent market share of the 96 million Netbooks sold in 2012.
But for the foreseeable future, Netbooks will run Windows on top of Intel's Atom processor. And for those few Netbooks not running Windows, Intel is hedging its bets. The world's largest chipmaker also showed, as part of a technology demonstration, an Atom-based Netbook running Google's Android operating system at Computex.
Brooke Crothers has served as an editor at large at CNET News, an editor at Dow Jones' Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, and a senior editor at InfoWorld. His CNET blog covers chip technology and computer systems, and how they define the computing experience. He also contributes to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. Follow Brooke on Twitter @mbrookec. 
PS: If intel decides to focus in more on the Google chrome os for mobile devices i'd say AMD should put their collective brains together and whip up and ATOM killer, and gun for the Windows Mobile space intel might leave behind, while they are at it why not acquire INTELs old ARM unit hint hint INTEL XSCALE cpus. just my 2 cents worth.
It's Chrome running on Linux. *yawn* You can do that now... Or better yet, run Chrome on Windows and wala, you have the same features plus the 1000000000000000000000000000000000000 apps for Windows.
This Chrome OS has to be the dumbest thing I've heard come out in a long time.
(And good for Intel, getting onboard with Chrome OS should insure they sell an extra 23 CPUs in 2010)
Hey grandpa, what was the name of that company again? Micro something? What was it like using computers that had a registry and DLLs? I am sure glad all computers use open standards now! You really had it rough grandpa!
Rest in peace Microsoft. Amen
+1
Unlike the 1980's (see also "WinTel"), Intel has actually managed to remain neutral about software vendors, and Microsoft is the one that gets to sweat it out these days. The "Vista Capable" fiasco should have been plenty of evidence that Microsoft takes orders from Intel now, and not the other way 'round ;)
It's not like Microsoft would start courting AMD. The reason why is easy enough to suss out: AMD is now where Apple was 13 years ago - burning money like mad, led by a soulless idiot with no vision (in Apple's case, it was the ex-Pepsi guy) and not making sales. Problem is, Hector Ruiz is certainly no Steve Jobs, so a turnaround is going to be hard to come by with 'em (especially after they spun-off and/or sold all of their frickin' fabs...)
Compound AMD's woes with the fact that nearly all of Microsoft's eggs are deep in a basket labeled "x86", and Intel has Microsoft firmly by the short-and-curlies if it ever came down to a struggle.
not only that, but now that apple is phasing out their powerpc support, id throw them in there as well.
The day Google ChromeOS spilled out CNET made like 15 different posts just talking about it.
there will be always guys who want to take down the U.S.
why?
b/c we are #1.
same reason that there will be always companies who want to take down Microsoft.
why?
b/c MS is #1.
bottom line is that in the business world, competition is good for the consumer.
we should praise those that tried.
that will only give us a better product and cheaper price for whatever the product we decided to purchase.
having said that....
the survival of any new operating system/device depended on the consumer.
new OS will thrive IF and ONLY IF it got a killer app.
by the way, what happens to the news about HP creating their own operating system?
haven't heard anything about that for over a year now.
- by jessiethe3rd July 19, 2009 1:12 PM PDT
- I like how people post comments about Google being successful... successful at anything outside of search and their advertising business. Google has done nothing more then create a bunch of buzz as of recently... there's very little actual substance. Google Docs (updated UI supposedly coming out), Chrome OS (vaporware?), Android (and it's *ahem* popularity), and products coming out of Beta... They haven't taken anyone down as far as I can see... we are still very early into this game and if I had to put my money on it - Microsoft's R&D, their 23 Billion (with a B folks) in the bank, and their already established desktop products moving into the web space is a much more compelling action. Microsoft will not be dissassembled nor beat very easily. With countless battles won (see Novell, see Sun, see IBM, see Wordperfect, see Oracle's amazing shrinking DB marketshare, see Unix.) Sure - there are failures (see Zune to-date, see Xbox's first try, see BOB, see Vista, see virtualization strategy to-date), the thing about Microsoft is they do not give up - they thrive on competition they keep coming and coming and coming and coming and coming....
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(20 Comments)With that said, Google has a hard uphill battle - they have to sell that cloud is the best way to go (many companies are not going to fall into this even though their adware driven consumer products have thrived and taken a little marketshare.) Hate'm or love'm when Microsoft sees that it's the underdog they always have a way of shocking the crap out of you (hence I like when Mirosoft gets beats down a bit - they get VERY passionate and put out some very good solutions... see Windows 7, See Xbox 360, See vision for Windows Mobile 7, see SQL Server 2008, see Zune HD, see LiveMesh, see Office Online)...
Keep beating up on Microsoft Google and let us all benefit from a tight, not-lazy Microsoft... thank goodness for competition!