Migrating from Windows 7 to Chrome OS: A Comparative Analysis for End-Users
Running head: MIGRATING FROM WINDOWS 7 TO CHROME OS
Migrating from Windows 7 to Chrome OS: A Comparative Analysis for End-Users
Jesse A. Ruler
Davenport University
Migrating from Windows 7 to Chrome OS: A Comparative Analysis for End-Users
Since the 1990s, Microsoft Windows operating systems have remained a dominant force in the world of computing in both personal and professional environments. Although other operating systems (OS), like Linux and Apple’s iOS, have also coexisted with Windows for quite some time, Windows has managed to remain the leading OS of choice, and by a very large margin. According to statistics gathered by W3Counter.com dating back to October of 2007, the estimated percentage of PCs worldwide that were running Windows-based operating systems was around 94.09%. Only recently has this number begun to noticeably shrink; as of October 2011, the percentage has fallen to around 80.21%. But what does this mean? These statistics are one small sign of many that the world of personal computing is beginning to break out of a decades-old mold which has been largely shaped by Microsoft. With the recent surge in popularity of the “cloud” (a.k.a, the Internet), more-and-more of what is done on PCs is being redesigned to run on nothing more than a simple web browser. As everything done on most personal computers continues to move from separate, locally-installed programs, into web-based applications that can be run within web browsers, is there really a need for end-users to have more software installed on their PCs than a web browser alone? Or is the capability of a fully web-based environment not yet suitable for everyone? While cloud computing may be a quickly rising trend, life in a web-only environment may not yet be a perfect fit for everyone. For end-users considering the move from a more familiar Windows-based environment, to one such as Google’s Chrome OS,
Migrating from Windows 7 to Chrome OS: A Comparative Analysis for End-Users
Jesse A. Ruler
Davenport University
Migrating from Windows 7 to Chrome OS: A Comparative Analysis for End-Users
Since the 1990s, Microsoft Windows operating systems have remained a dominant force in the world of computing in both personal and professional environments. Although other operating systems (OS), like Linux and Apple’s iOS, have also coexisted with Windows for quite some time, Windows has managed to remain the leading OS of choice, and by a very large margin. According to statistics gathered by W3Counter.com dating back to October of 2007, the estimated percentage of PCs worldwide that were running Windows-based operating systems was around 94.09%. Only recently has this number begun to noticeably shrink; as of October 2011, the percentage has fallen to around 80.21%. But what does this mean? These statistics are one small sign of many that the world of personal computing is beginning to break out of a decades-old mold which has been largely shaped by Microsoft. With the recent surge in popularity of the “cloud” (a.k.a, the Internet), more-and-more of what is done on PCs is being redesigned to run on nothing more than a simple web browser. As everything done on most personal computers continues to move from separate, locally-installed programs, into web-based applications that can be run within web browsers, is there really a need for end-users to have more software installed on their PCs than a web browser alone? Or is the capability of a fully web-based environment not yet suitable for everyone? While cloud computing may be a quickly rising trend, life in a web-only environment may not yet be a perfect fit for everyone. For end-users considering the move from a more familiar Windows-based environment, to one such as Google’s Chrome OS,
References: to this source were used for general statistics, and information regarding the Windows 7 operating system in general.