????大家可能已經(jīng)忘了谷歌（Google）曾經(jīng)在2009年推出過自己的電腦操作系統(tǒng)，這也情有可原。雖然谷歌堅(jiān)信未來所有數(shù)據(jù)和應(yīng)用都將儲(chǔ)存在云端上，但是它據(jù)此理念推出的Chrome OS系統(tǒng)卻很少引起人們的注意。根據(jù)IDC公司發(fā)布的數(shù)據(jù)，2014年1月，Chrome OS占PC市場(chǎng)的份額只有1%。另一家名叫Net Applications的公司甚至指出，Chrome OS的全球市占場(chǎng)有率甚至連1%都不到。

????不過Chrome OS眼下已經(jīng)顯露出了一點(diǎn)增長(zhǎng)的跡象。走簡(jiǎn)練風(fēng)格路線的Chromebook筆記本已經(jīng)開始經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)在亞馬遜（Amazon）的暢銷筆記本排行榜上。另外到今年夏天，除了蘋果（Apple）之外的所有主要筆記本電腦生產(chǎn)商家都將開始銷售Chromebook，其中不乏戴爾（Dell）、宏基（Acer）、華碩（Asus）、索尼（Sony）、惠普（HP）、東芝（Toshiba）、聯(lián)想（Lenovo）等大牌廠商。也許最能說明問題的是，連微軟（Microsoft）都花了不少時(shí)間直接放話詆毀Chromebook。如果廠家都去大量生產(chǎn)谷歌這款低成本、低維護(hù)費(fèi)用的筆記本電腦的話，那確實(shí)是夠微軟頭疼的。

????另外，NPD集團(tuán)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，到2013年末，Chromebook在商用領(lǐng)域的占有率已經(jīng)達(dá)到9.6%，在這個(gè)領(lǐng)域的份額已經(jīng)超過了蘋果筆記本、Windows平板和安卓平板。NPD的報(bào)告還指出，Chromebook在商用領(lǐng)域的出貨量從2012年的40萬臺(tái)翻了四番，達(dá)到2013年的176萬臺(tái)。簡(jiǎn)而言之，Chrome OS從總體上看雖然依舊是個(gè)小不點(diǎn)，但是這個(gè)小不點(diǎn)正在慢慢長(zhǎng)大。

????除了一個(gè)網(wǎng)頁瀏覽器和一點(diǎn)少得可憐的本地文件空間之外，運(yùn)行Chrome OS的Chromebook筆記本和Chromebox臺(tái)式機(jī)就沒什么其他亮點(diǎn)了，這意味著它們必須依賴于網(wǎng)絡(luò)連接、在線應(yīng)用和云儲(chǔ)存，但同時(shí)也意味著它們的部署成本和維護(hù)都很低廉。安全性和軟件升級(jí)可以由系統(tǒng)自動(dòng)搞定，而且系統(tǒng)備份也可以通過遠(yuǎn)程控制來完成。特別值得一提的是，谷歌最近剛剛與虛擬化廠商VMware建立了合作伙伴關(guān)系，使Chromebook的用戶只要通過瀏覽器就能使用Windows應(yīng)用程序。

????NPD公司的史蒂夫?貝克認(rèn)為，Chromebook銷量的上升主要?dú)w功于越來越高的實(shí)用性和外形因素以及它的價(jià)格優(yōu)勢(shì)，而且它使用起來也更方便。貝克接受《財(cái)富》（Fortune）采訪時(shí)表示：“Chromebook的賣點(diǎn)首先在于它與傳統(tǒng)筆記本的差距越來越小，其次它還提供了一些并不是完全依賴于網(wǎng)絡(luò)的功能。消費(fèi)者尋找低成本的聯(lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備和計(jì)算設(shè)備已經(jīng)有一段時(shí)間了，而Chromebook正好滿足了這些需求。”

????IHS公司分析師克雷格?斯蒂斯也認(rèn)為，較低的成本對(duì)于谷歌Chrome OS系統(tǒng)的增長(zhǎng)非常重要。他說：“光是價(jià)格就讓這個(gè)系統(tǒng)很有吸引力，Chromebook筆記本電腦的價(jià)格普遍都在兩百多美元。同時(shí)它正好趕上低價(jià)PC和上網(wǎng)本市場(chǎng)被整體淘汰的時(shí)候。另外，云儲(chǔ)存為小型IT部門創(chuàng)建了一個(gè)更簡(jiǎn)單的管理架構(gòu)，此外Chromebook的易用性也讓它得到了老師們的青睞。”

????You could be forgiven for having forgotten that Google (GOOG) has its own desktop operating system, launched back in 2009. Championing a vision of a future where all data and applications live in the cloud, Chrome OS has struggled to make a dent: It accounts for only 1% of the PC market as of January 2014, according to figures from IDC. Net Applications, another market research firm, pegs global usage of Chrome OS at somewhere south of a single percent.

????Yet small signs of growth are appearing. Chromebooks -- the stripped-down notebooks that run Chrome OS -- are starting to show up regularly in the list of bestselling laptops on Amazon (AMZN). By this summer, all the major laptop manufacturers other than Apple will have Chromebooks on sale, including Dell, Acer, Asus, Sony (SNE), HP (HP), Toshiba, and Lenovo. And perhaps most tellingly of all, Microsoft (MSFT) has taken the time to disparage Chrome OS directly. If companies turn to Google's low-cost, low-maintenance laptops in significant numbers, it will cause some serious headaches in Redmond.

????Then there are figures from the NPD Group, which show Chromebooks claiming a 9.6% share of the business sector at the end of 2013. That's higher than sales of Apple laptops, Windows tablets, and Android tablets in the same space. NPD's report noted a fourfold increase in the number of Chromebooks pushed through commercial channels in the U.S. during 2013: 1.76 million compared with 400,000 in 2012. In short, Chrome OS remains just a dot on the horizon as far as the bigger picture is concerned, but it's a dot that's growing.

????The Chromebooks and Chromeboxes that run Chrome OS offer little more than a web browser and a sliver of space for local files. While this makes them dependent on Internet access, online apps, and cloud storage, it also means they are inexpensive to deploy and easy to maintain. Security and software updates are effectively handled automatically by the operating system, and backups are handled remotely on the web. Significantly, Google has just announced a partnership with the virtualization vendor VMware (VMW), enabling Chromebook users to access legacy Windows applications through a browser tab.

????NPD's Stephen Baker attributes the rise of Chromebook sales to increased availability, lower prices, improved form factors, and a better use case: "Chromebooks are now marketed as being more strongly equivalent to a traditional notebook PC and offering capabilities that aren't only tied to the web," Baker told Fortune. "Consumers have been looking for low-cost web access and computing devices for quite a while, and the Chromebook fits those requirements."

????IHS analyst Craig Stice agreed that a low price was critical to the growth of Google's lightweight operating system. "The price alone is a big attraction to these systems, which are in the $200-plus range," he said. "As well, they came at a time when the low-end priced PC and netbook market had disappeared. The notebook-like form factor of a Chromebook with the attached keyboard aids efficiency and offers what a media tablet cannot provide. The cloud-based storage creates a much easier management structure for small IT departments, and the ease of use makes them a blessing for teachers."