I just got done reading Jon Gruber’s article The OS Opportunity.  In his article, Gruber posits that now is the time for large companies, such as Dell, to start making and marketing their own consumer desktop OS.   He references the success Apple has had doing so.  And his main point of reason is that it is the only way these companies can successfully differentiate.

Seems like a reasonable assertion, right?   Sure, Apple as of late has had a lot of success by coupling hardware and software in the mobile market.  And, even has had a modest level of success doing so in the consumer PC market.  But, lets not so easily forget, that this strategy almost bankrupted the company in the 90s.  It was the iPod and its logical extension, the iPhone, that saved the company.  These devices succeeded because they were new, innovative, and most importantly, disruptive.

By that same measure, does it make sense for a company like Dell to have its own OS?  I would argue a resounding “no” (although, I might be in the minority).  I think this is an incredibly dumb idea for two reasons.  The first is that a new desktop OS is not at all disruptive (unless you look at it from the consumer perspective).   The desktop OS market is extremely mature and a new entry will at the minimum have to match the existing competitors.  The second reason is that building an OS is in no way part of most hardware vendors core competency.  The investment to build a new OS would take away from where these companies should be focusing—building new an innovative form factors using Window 7, Android, and the soon to be announced Google Chrome OS.

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