According to a report in the
Financial Times, Google is making a full-throated move away from Windows PCs for the company's workforce. Apparently the big G is now giving staffers the option of a Mac or Linux rig as an alternative to a Windows computer. The
FT article suggests that the move is spurred on by security concerns -- some specifically related to a flurry of attacks against the company which emanated from China, a country Google has recently been
at odds with over
censorship. Although security could be at issue, some of the employees interviewed for the article seem to suggest the changes -- which mean staffers require CIO approval for a Windows PC -- might actually be geared towards bringing
Chrome OS into the Googleplex full-throttle. "A lot of it is an effort to run things on Google product," said one unnamed source, "They want to run things on Chrome." Another employee is quoted as saying that, "Before the security, there was a directive by the company to try to run things on Google products. It was a long time coming." Regardless of the reasoning behind the move, if Google is moving the company to Macs and Linux instead of the world's most popular computing platform, it's certainly notable. We've reached out to both Microsoft and Google for comment, and will update you if and when we have word.
Update: We finally got some word (albeit not much) from a Google spokesperson: "We're always working to improve the efficiency of our business, but we don't comment on specific operational matters."
posted May 31st 2010 10:45PM
A lot of people seem to be blowing this out of proportion. This move might be the beginning of their plan to introduce the Chrome OS in the future, but as of right now, the purpose is to reduce the licensing cost. They've done this for years already from outlook to gmail only, ms office to open office, and now windows to mac os/linux.
@Luno
I wouldn't say it's "the end" of windows.. but I doubt "licensing cost" is the only if even "main" reason...
@Luno
So in your world... the Licensing Cost of Windows > Buying a new computer from Apple
Brilliant.
Dude, its security.
@Wesscoast Google is not replacing all their Windows machines with macs. They are slowly phasing it out by encouraging its employees to transition to macs/linux. Licensing costs for 10,000 machines is very high!
Google should:
1. dual-boot every machine with ChromeOS/Linux or ChromeOS/OS X.
2. have employees boot into ChromeOS first & if they need the desktop OS (e.g. for a certain app, printing, etc.), report the reason to the ChromeOS team.
3. have the ChromeOS team focus on eliminating each reason by:
- finding a third-party solution.
- developing their own solution.
- using remote desktop from ChromeOS to access the desktop OS.
This approach would:
a. accelerate the maturation of ChromeOS.
b. rapidly mature & validate the "pure" cloud computing paradigm.
c. allow employees to access their work environment, from any device (smartphone, tablet, ...).
d. provide third-parties a large target customer, for their solutions.
e. ultimately reduce IT support costs, through simplified client devices.
@HereAndNow
I agree.. they should test it by seeing if they can go at least 2 months with solely Chrome OS. Would be interesting.
It's not secuity. Microsoft has better security than Apple. It's been proven time and time again.
@hzmt
Sure it does.... quit trolling.
@Incorrigible - So if I don't agree with you I'm a troll? lol. OK.
Security by obscurity isn't real security, Google. Not our fault you used IE6 instead of, you know, your own browser.
If every major tech company begins creating its own OS, then before long we're going to have hardware that won't work with some software, which won't run on most operating systems, which are powered by drivers made for specific hardware incompatible with the operating system in the first place.
My head just exploded.
If rumors are right and if Apple is going to let Bing be an option on iPhone 4.0 then this goes to prove that Apple is fighting Google in the open.. With this move Google is just trying and being nice to Apple.. Android is going to live on.. Moral of the story you and me are just pawns in the game..SUCKERS !!
It's a nice surprise to see Google moving their own workforce to Macs, and all this amidst an escalating Google-Apple clash no less. Kudos to Google for that sound decision.
This is indeed good news for us Mac-users too. For the longest time new Google software and services have been Windows only to begin with, and Mac-versions have trickled out slowly and often in crippled versions. Chrome is an example of that. One can hope that Google employees will no longer accept subpar versions of their own software on their daily work machines, now that they're Macs, and will call for rapid Mac development of new Google software and services.
Oh, and what about Flash? How long will Google believe the lies from their new friends Adobe, when they claim that Flash runs wonderfully "across all platforms", when, on a daily basis, they get to see first hand the misery that is Flash on Mac OS X ?
Unless they can provide a real quote from a named person, I call bullshit.
I mean, FT is not a reputable tech news source, their core reader base doesn't give a hoot about this story (so if it turns out to be wrong this won't impact FT's reputation much), it reeks of SEO (just look at all the keywords), and nobody can confirm or deny it, since Google won't comment on security policy.
@Pies
you're underestimating the Financial Times. They are a very reputable business publication, and I'm pretty sure Google, Microsoft and Apple are major corporations that are followed by the business community. They don't just spew nonsense.
@TomSawyer I suppose it depends on how much you trust everyone who works at FT.
Google is worth the same as Microsoft so now they want to "get him in the balls".
@pankomputerek No, it isn't. You're thinking of Apple.
@Pies Last time I checked they were worth $30bn ... Same as Microsoft.
Anyway it's really close.
I'll take a 17inch Macbook Pro dual booting OSX and Goobuntu please :-)
Windows = FAIL
@Don Corleone How? They didn't do anything wrong. Just a stupid decision from the executives at google
From a technical perspective, Apple OSX and Linux are actually less secure than Windows contrary to popular belief. Give any hacker the choice, Windows 7/Vista, Linux, OSX, and almost universally they will avoid Windows because its just that hard to hack. the only reason ppl actually manage to hack it is because of the sheer volume of people trying to and the market attraction of these black-hats to windows.
As a matter of fact, if Google hadn't been running IE6 like Microsoft recommended and upgraded to IE7/8 the Chinese would have never been able to hack their systems like that.
In reality, Linux and OSX are just as vulnerable to some idiot double clicking a rogue application file and installing malware. There are boatloads of exploits for Linux and Macs and this sort of attention is whats going to raise the interest of hackers to start developing malware for these platforms.
If anything, Google is putting both Linux and OSX into the hot seat by raising their business share. Now Apple will be forced to address their woeful security problems and actually make an attempt to address their many exploits in their system, that up till now one has had reason to exploit.
http://www.forbes.com/global/2010/0412/companies-apple-charlie-miller-hackers-security-hack-proof.html
Thus ends the powerful reign of the Google empire. So shall their conquests be forever etched in stone.
The security argument is garbage.
If Google's eliminating Windows, I guess that means Chrome development on Windows is dead in the long term.
The move was inevitable, though ... if you're competing with someone, you probably don't want to use their products internally.
@LANjackal We can live without chrome. Not so much without windows.
@QuietInsanity True, but just because Google's moving away from Windows doesn't mean the OS is dead. It's amazing how badly Googlemania has gotten to people. One company switches from Windows and it's big news. I guess everyone forgot the millions of other enterprise licenses MS has.
I can't wait until Macs are popular enough that hackers start giving them a little "taste".
Then we'll see who's actually more secure, and not more worth hacking.
Its always weird for me to hear about a company using the competitions software and hardware to create their own software and hardware. And then in turn that software and hardware competes directly with the company that manufactures the very products they use for product creation. e.g.: Google using Macs to produce android which compete with the iPhone. Or Palm using Macs to produce WebOS which competes with iPhone. Same goes for if they used Windows. I mean why not use Ubuntu?
I mean Apple only uses OSX for all their product creation and I would assume most over at Microsoft use windows for product creation. I think its time Google came out with their Chrome OS that has support for Adobe CS5 and any other programs they would need to develop their own products on. Because banning the use of windows only to go and use osx doesnt really make sense, your still using the competition. They say its about saftey but isnt Linux the safest of them all? Im no expert, thats just my opinion.
What programs will be compatible with Google's OS. When Defense company and other big markets move to Mac then it's big news. Mac won't get majority of the market until their offer systems for under $700.
Since MS are supposedly so bad, it begs belief that they were using MS products anyway.
Google using MS products? Reading these forums you would assume MS could never sell anything.
I think the real reason why IT prefers Windows is that it has a predictable failure rate and you can therefore budget maintenance and justify extra staff. My organization still uses IE 6. This is corporate computing not personal computing. If service packs and registry hacking floats your boat, then Windows is the greatest thing ever (not). Google is just doing what it feels is the best thing for it's security, and you should too.
In all honesty, who is going to choose ubuntu over mac?
@synth
Not that Ubuntu is a bad thing or anything
(directs ubuntufans hatred away from me)
This is bad news for Mac users.
If the Mac OS is going to become massively popular it will mean stuff like viruses etc. will be written.
You guys don't get it.
If Google had used the same security protocols as EVERYONE else, this never would have happened. They were basically asking for this to happen as a marketing ploy to move away from windows based machines.
Just look, they are trying to compete with Microsoft in many areas, so why use their OS when we can use ours?
I'm surprised they were primarily a Windows shop anyway. If any company could get away with using Linux or Mac as their primary computer OS, it would be Google.
I doubt this means anything regarding Chrome development on Windows. Windows is still 90%+ of the market, and will be their primary development platform if they want their browser to remain relevant.
i hope they remain the interoperability. Microsoft managed to unify the computing world in the mid-80s after the "War of the DOSes". After which the empire was built on, strengthen and now, down sliding.
Apple and Google are probably going to be starting another OS war with Microsoft.
Honestly, I think it is about time for MS to have some serious competitions.
to answer a prior q...
1. G has been running their core on linux boxes for years, but their desktops/laptops for their programmers have been Win. Not that it totally matters since their using eclipse/gcc/etc freeware tools anyways, but it does annoy some that they have to change dev platforms.
2. G's top bosses are much like Jobs. Rather than dev in the current ecosystem, they go off and create new platforms/boxes to play in. Much like Jobs Flash tic. Politics and personality showing thru in their decisions and products, not necessarily greatest for the consumers.