CrunchPad Fans

Google has just announced the making of Google Chrome OS, its latest onslaught against Microsoft. Sundar Pichai, VP of Product Management, explains that users are fed up with current operating systems since they want to check email and browse the web without having to wait for a computer to boot.

FusionGarage, the Singapore start-up which was acquired by CrunchPad Inc., is also developing an awfully similar concept. In fact, Pichai’s post itself looks like a mirror of Michael Arrington’s post a year ago.

Comparing Google’s post with Arrington’s vision:

Google: We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better.

Arrington: I’m tired of waiting – I want a dead simple and dirt cheap touch screen web tablet to surf the web.

Google: The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel.

Arrington: Just a Macbook Air-thin touch screen machine that runs Firefox and possibly Skype on top of a Linux kernel.

Google: People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up.

Arrington: The idea is to turn it on, bypass any desktop interface, and go directly to Firefox running in a modified Kiosk mode that effectively turns the browser into the operating system for the device.

Google: Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.

Arrington: So let’s design it, build a few and then open source the specs so anyone can create them.