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

????不過Chrome OS眼下已經顯露出了一點增長的跡象。走簡練風格路線的Chromebook筆記本已經開始經常出現在亞馬遜（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）都花了不少時間直接放話詆毀Chromebook。如果廠家都去大量生產谷歌這款低成本、低維護費用的筆記本電腦的話，那確實是夠微軟頭疼的。

????另外，NPD集團的數據顯示，到2013年末，Chromebook在商用領域的占有率已經達到9.6%，在這個領域的份額已經超過了蘋果筆記本、Windows平板和安卓平板。NPD的報告還指出，Chromebook在商用領域的出貨量從2012年的40萬臺翻了四番，達到2013年的176萬臺。簡而言之，Chrome OS從總體上看雖然依舊是個小不點，但是這個小不點正在慢慢長大。

????除了一個網頁瀏覽器和一點少得可憐的本地文件空間之外，運行Chrome OS的Chromebook筆記本和Chromebox臺式機就沒什么其他亮點了，這意味著它們必須依賴于網絡連接、在線應用和云儲存，但同時也意味著它們的部署成本和維護都很低廉。安全性和軟件升級可以由系統自動搞定，而且系統備份也可以通過遠程控制來完成。特別值得一提的是，谷歌最近剛剛與虛擬化廠商VMware建立了合作伙伴關系，使Chromebook的用戶只要通過瀏覽器就能使用Windows應用程序。

????NPD公司的史蒂夫?貝克認為，Chromebook銷量的上升主要歸功于越來越高的實用性和外形因素以及它的價格優勢，而且它使用起來也更方便。貝克接受《財富》（Fortune）采訪時表示：“Chromebook的賣點首先在于它與傳統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絡的功能。消費者尋找低成本的聯網設備和計算設備已經有一段時間了，而Chromebook正好滿足了這些需求。”

????IHS公司分析師克雷格?斯蒂斯也認為，較低的成本對于谷歌Chrome OS系統的增長非常重要。他說：“光是價格就讓這個系統很有吸引力，Chromebook筆記本電腦的價格普遍都在兩百多美元。同時它正好趕上低價PC和上網本市場被整體淘汰的時候。另外，云儲存為小型IT部門創建了一個更簡單的管理架構，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."