When Chrome OS was launched, there was a whole lot of confusion over why Google needed to introduce both Android and Chrome OS to the market. Chromebook users will note that Chrome OS is a lot different to Android and while you can certainly do most of what you do on Chrome Os on Android, it’s a noticeably different experience. With Chrome OS gaining in popularity, so much so that Google are launching them in regions all over the world, there’s been more speculation than ever on whether the two will come together.
Eric Schmidt, as Reuters is reporting, is pretty certain that the two of them won’t be coming together any time soon. Speaking at Google’s Big Tent event in India, Schmidt made it clear that the two platforms would remain separate going so far as to say that they are “certainly going to remain separate for a very long time, because they solve different problems.” I’ve been a big fan of Chrome OS for some time now and I’ve never quite understood the fascination people seem to have of bringing the two platforms together. There’s a lot of difference between the two of them and the experience you get from them is wildly different. You could use a Chromebook all day long if you work on the web but, try to use an Android tablet with a keyboard all day long.
Of course, there’s no doubt that the two platforms will continue to have more in common with each other. After all, Chrome is getting a whole lot better on Android all the time now and, Google Now is apparently coming to Chrome. Schmidt said that there would be more “commonality” between the two platforms. There’s been talk of Android apps running on Chrome OS but, that might be a way out.
This year’s Google I/O conference is certainly going to be an exciting time, and with hardware like the Chromebook Pixel already launching it looks like there’s a bright future ahead of Chrome OS, no matter what.