Android the real Linux desktop threat to Windows

Stan Beer
Sunday, 01 March 2009 12:25

Opinion and Analysis

Asustek has let it be known that it is working on installing a version of Google's Android operating system on a Eee PC before the end of the year. More than anything that has gone before, this could spell trouble for Microsoft and give renewed hope for the open source community and Linux supporters.

Aside from being an open source Linux distribution, which is already starting to gain traction in the mobile phones space, Android has the backing of Google. And as Microsoft well knows Google is no Canonical, Novell or Red Hat. Google is a heavyweight - it's a powerful company with considerable resources.

Despite its protestations to the contrary, Google's pretensions to encroach upon Microsoft territory are thinly disguised. It has already slaughtered Microsoft, Yahoo and all comers in the search space. And it is also starting to make some small but significant inroads in the office productivity space with cloud applications like Google Docs, Gmail and Google Calendars.

From most accounts and my own experience Android is intuitive and user friendly on mobile hardware such as the HTC Dream.  However, there is no doubt that Android compared to full blown operating systems like Windows, Mac OSX or Ubuntu Linux is still very much a lightweight.

It is also true, however, that the trend of desktop computing is toward mobility - notebooks and netbooks. In the era of hotspots and ubiquitous Internet, consumers and business users alike want something they can take on the road with them.

The trend to netbooks and low-power consumption mobile devices favours lightweight operating systems. Users - particularly sub-notebook users - want to do much if not most of their work in the cloud. They may not be able to do everything, such as watch DVDs or play games, but they can still accomplish most of what's required to run their part of the business they work in.

Likening Android to Windows is like comparing Google Apps to Microsoft Office - it's not quite there yet. Steve Ballmer is wrong when he says Google Docs can't even do a footnote, but his point that Microsoft Word is much more powerful is well taken - for now. However, for many, myself included, Google Docs, Calendar and Gmail are more than good enough.

The critical success factors behind operating systems are device drivers and applications. More than anything else, this has been the downfall of Ubuntu and the other Linux distribution hopefuls.

Starting from the mobile phones environment and working upward, Android, backed by Google, is likely to succeed where other Linux distributions have failed. It is likely to garner support from both device manufacturers and applications vendors.

It's early days and there's a long way to go but if a Linux desktop is ever to make an impact in the mainstream, then it is likely to be Android. Ironically, by the time it takes the mantle of market leader from Microsoft, the cloud may well have made the desktop a thing of the past.