Frank E. Gillett [Posted by Frank E. Gillett]

I was intrigued and excited to see Google announcement of their second operating system effort today, Google Chrome OS. I’ve been thinking about how client operating systems will evolve ever since I began struggling with having data spread across multiple PCs. I finally gathered together my thoughts on the future of client OS in the The Personal Cloud, published just two days ago.

My working title for this report was “Death of the PC OS” because I believe that the industry needs to rethink and expand the role of PC and device operating systems. Ultimately we titled the report “The Personal Cloud” to capture the new approach, focused on information and online services that the industry will move to, rather than today’s aging device-centric approach.

The announcement of Chrome OS is the NOT the beginning of new front in the old PC operating system war, which Microsoft Windows clearly won. It’s an early marker for the emerging battle of personal cloud platforms, which vendors will build using online services, plus various combinations of a Web browser, device operating system, or software players. Do you agree? Will Google stretch Chrome OS beyond netbooks and consumers, as we expect?