Three Reasons the Cloud Does Not Need Google’s Chrome OS

Long promoted as the “cloud computing operating system,” Google’s forthcoming Chrome OS will provide a browser-centric OS that wholly depends on wireless connectivity and the cloud for its core services. The first Chrome OS notebooks won’t be available until mid-2011 — unless you can get into the pilot program for Google’s own Cr-48 netbook. Every feature of Chrome OS is synced to the cloud, so users can pick up where they left off regardless of what computer they are leveraging.

If you’re old enough to remember “network computing,” this is it. In short, never leave anything on your client, and use the network to access core application services and data storage. Fast-forward 15 years, and it’s now the cloud and outside of the firewall, but the same rules still apply.

[ See Galen Gruman’s first look for a deeper view of Google’s Chrome OS, the prototype laptop, and the current state of Google Apps. | Get the no-nonsense explanations and advice you need to take real advantage of cloud computing in InfoWorld editors’ 21-page Cloud Computing Deep Dive PDF special report. ]

Don’t get me wrong: I think Google’s Chrome OS is innovative, but it’s not needed now. Here are three reasons why:

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