[經濟廣角]谷歌 VS 微軟：巨頭碰撞

谷歌 VS 微軟：巨頭碰撞

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來源: The Economist 編輯: Vicki

7月6日週二晚些時候，谷歌公司官方網站稱將將會在今年晚些時候推出一款新的筆記本電腦操作系統，該消息一出，立即在業內引起巨大的反響。衆所周知，目前，微軟的操作系統約Windows約佔市場的90%。雖然近期有所下降，但仍是市場主力。究竟誰將是最後的贏家呢？估計在短時間內不會有結果，然而這來那個大巨頭之間的爭戰必定會給蕭條的市場帶來不小的衝擊。

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 （騷動，變革）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（對抗） 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（鉻操作系統）, as the new software is called, will be targeted only at netbooks, the cheap and smallish laptops （輕小的便攜筆記本）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 （突襲）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正式宣佈處於開發中的基於PC的操作系統。

Google Chrome OS是一款基於Linux的開源操作系統。Google在自己的官方博客表示，初期，這一操作系統將定位於上網本、緊湊型以及低成本電腦。這款開源軟件將被命名爲Chrome OS，將在明年下半年上市。

Chrome OS系統和Chrome瀏覽器一樣有三大重點要素，那就是速度、簡潔、安全，啓動和運行速度都會很快，界面元素將會最少化，並且直接集成Chrome瀏覽器、配合上網本提供流暢的網絡體驗，並支持Web程序。 Google的網絡取代桌面的戰略思想將再一次得到貫徹執行。快速、簡易和安全將是Chrome OS最強調的三大特性，這款操作系統將設計成爲最快和最瘦身的操作系統，只需幾秒鐘的時間便可啓動PC並接入互聯網。
　　
Chrome OS將同時支持x86和ARM兩種處理器架構。Google保證會在2009年年內提供Chrome OS的源代碼，並計劃2010年下半年正式發佈。