Chrome OS and Android to "converge over time"

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 23 Nov 2009 at 10:33

Google is likely to merge Chrome OS and Android further down the development road, according to the company.

The search giant's decision to develop two operating system independently has confused industry watchers, especially as both Android and Chrome OS have been developed with mobile devices in mind.

Speaking to CNet, Google co-founder Sergey Brin admitted that "Android and Chrome will likely converge over time," citing the fact that both are based on Webkit.

Having two open-source operating systems from Google helps contribute a wealth of new code to the open source community

However, that doesn't appear to be on the cards any time soon. A statement from Google claims that smartphones and netbooks have different requirements, and benefit from independently developed OSes.

"We're reaching a perfect storm of converging trends where computers are behaving more like mobile devices, and phones are behaving more like small computers," says Google.

"Having two open-source operating systems from Google provides both users and device manufacturers with more choice and helps contribute a wealth of new code to the open source community."

If Google does decide to converge the two operating systems it will have to make a big decision on what to do about applications. Android allows users to install their own software on the device, while Chrome OS will only support web apps.