Recently, Google turned a few heads with the quiet announcement of ‘Fuchsia’ – an all-new operating system that’s being tipped as a potential Android successor. Today, Agent Cooper clues you in on what we know so far.
There’s been no fanfare, no big announcement – but a quiet move from the all-powerful Google could point the way to the future of computing.
Last month, the tech giant posted a bundle of code to online repository GitHub, alongside the cryptic message “Pink + Purple == Fuchsia (a new Operating System)”.
This led eagle-eyed observers to conclude that the mysterious project referred to a new operating system – but at the moment, that’s all Google have said. So what are they up to, and what does it mean for the device in your pocket?
The Fuchsia’s Bright
Okay, so we’ve got to lay our cards on the table here: at the moment, we just don’t know. But we have a few clues.
The most notable feature of Fuchsia that we know about is the fact that it’s built from an entirely new ‘kernel’. This is the central part of the operating system that controls all the core functions and ‘translates’ between the software and hardware – think of it a little like the engine in a car.
Google’s current operating systems, the well-known Android for mobile devices and ChromeOS for Chromebook computers, are based on the ‘Linux kernel’ – an open-source project developed by Linus Torvalds back in the 90s.
But Fuchsia is built from an entirely new kernel developed by Google themselves, called Magenta and based on an earlier project called LK. LK was designed for ‘embedded applications’ – and that’s our first clue.
‘Embedded applications’ broadly refers to the software that powers ‘things’ rather than smartphones and computers – particularly ‘smart home’ and ‘Internet of Things’ gadgets. With that in mind, it’s a fair bet that Fuchsia could end up powering the next generation of connected home technology.
A unified OS?
But of course, there’s more to it than that. Google’s own documentation for Magenta states that it’s targeted towards “modern phones and modern personal computers with fast processors, non-trivial amounts of ram with arbitrary peripherals doing open ended computation.”
In other words, it’s a bit of an all-rounder, equally at home on your phone or laptop as on your fridge.
Unfortunately, this raises more questions than it answers – and at the moment, all we have is speculation. But the possibilities are really exciting!
Perhaps the most interesting possibility is that this is the first stage in an effort to unify Google’s operating systems. While some Chromebooks can currently run Android apps, and cross-platform compatibility is set to increase further in the near future, ChromeOS and Android are still separate ecosystems. But a new, unified OS could have advantages for developers and users alike.
For developers, it means a larger user base for apps, without having to code for multiple platforms. And for users, it offers the convenience of having one app or program that works across multiple devices – something Microsoft have recently attempted with their ‘Universal Windows Platform’ initiative.
Of course, at this point, we have no way of knowing for sure. Fuchsia could be the future of the Internet of Things. It might be the future of the laptop, or the phone in your pocket. And there’s a chance that it might combine all of those things!
Or it might not. The only thing we’re sure of is that we’re excited to see what it turns out to be – and as soon as we know more, you’ll be the first to know.
Fancy indulging in some baseless speculation about the future of Fuchsia? Feel free to drop us a note in the comments below! And for more great articles from our Agent straight to your inbox each month, get your name down below for the Geek Squad newsletter!