Google's Chrome Strategy Heads in New Directions, Draws Linux Comparisons

Google's Chrome browser and Chrome OS operating system are grabbing headlines this week for several reasons. As Susan reported here, Matt Hartley said recently, 'Anyone who believes Google isn't making a play for desktop users isn't paying attention.' Hartley favors putting Linux in front of a lot of potential Chrome OS users, and says "I consider ChromeOS to be a forked operating system that uses the Linux kernel under the hood."

Meanwhile, there is a very interesting new feature found in the Chrome for Android app that instantly displays suggestions to queries while you’re typing them into the address bar. For example, if you type in "How old is George Clooney?," you'll get the answer before being taken to any dedicated site where the answer is found.

Matt Hartley's article about Linux and Chrome OS on Datamation is worth reading.  He writes:

"Anyone who is living a Google-centric lifestyle on Windows will feel right at home on ChromeOS. Odds are this individual is already relying on the Chrome browser, Google Drive and Gmail. By extension, moving over to ChromeOS feels fairly natural for these folks, as they're simply using the browser they're already used to."

"Linux enthusiasts, however, tend to feel constrained almost immediately. Software choices feel limited and boxed in, plus games and VoIP are totally out of the question. Sorry, but GooglePlus Hangouts isn't a replacement for VoIP software. Not even by a long shot."

Hartley suggests that many Chrome OS users might be better off with a Linux distro that doesn't focus so intensively on cloud apps and data in the cloud. In fact, we've heard from many OStatic readers who have their own spin on this concept. They are buying low cost Chromebooks, only to put their favorite Linux distros on the machines, eschewing Chrome OS altogether. Have you done this?

The new Auto Suggest answers found in Chrome for Android are explored in depth here.  It's actually a slick idea, and can help users avoid having to land on destination pages to get answers to easily solved questions. Instructions for enabling and using this feature in Chrome for Android are found here.