One of Google Chrome OS's hardest tasks? Printing
Many challenges will have to be solved before Google is ready to release Chrome OS, it's browser-based operating system for Netbooks. One of the biggest ones could be something as far offline as it gets.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google positioned Chrome OS as something other than a conventional PC operating system in July, a framing that made browser-based applications central to the product rather than an add-on. That earlier non-PC OS framing raises the stakes for peripheral support: netbook buyers still need routine offline tasks to work.
Printing is a concrete test of whether Google can make a web-first system usable beyond the browser. The same story was also picked up by Royal Pingdom, indicating that the compatibility question travelled beyond a narrow product-launch audience.
First-order effects
- Google must solve printer support before Chrome OS can meet the baseline expectations of netbook users whose work still ends on paper.
Second-order effects
- Chrome OS’s browser-centered design puts pressure on Google to bridge web applications and locally attached hardware, rather than treating web-app sophistication alone as sufficient.
Third-order effects
- If web-first operating systems cannot accommodate offline peripherals, conventional PC platforms retain an advantage in the compatibility layer that makes general-purpose computing practical.
The trend: Chrome OS is an early test of whether a browser-first operating system can replace PC software while preserving the peripheral support users take for granted.