Chrome家族的主角终将出场。Chrome是一款以互联网为中心的操作系统，谷歌（Google）希望它能改变整个计算机产业。上周，谷歌在旧金山的年度开发者I/O大会上，揭晓了大家期盼已久的Chrome操作系统笔记本（即“Chrome笔记本”），同时还推出一项针对企业、学校及政府客户的硬件和软件订阅计划。

    下面是该计划的详细内容：企业客户可通过支付月租费使用Chrome笔记本，起价为每用户28美元（针对学校的价格为每学生20美元）。月租套餐包括以下几方面：支持远程实施和管理用户的云管理控制台、设备和应用程序、谷歌所谓的“企业级支持”、设备保修和更换。但谷歌并未在套餐里提供面向企业的应用程序。这意味着如果用户想使用谷歌的企业级应用程序套件（包括Gmail、谷歌日历、谷歌文档等应用程序），那么他们必须另外再支付每用户50美元的年费。（如果你问我，我认为将谷歌所有的企业级应用与Chrome笔记本一起捆绑销售显然更合理。不过没有人问我的意见。）

    不过即便如此，给员工每月订阅谷歌Chrome笔记本以及每年订阅商业应用程序的费用加起来，可能也要比给他们配备安装有微软（Microsoft）Windows或苹果（Apple）OS X全套系统的笔记本费用要低。而且基于互联网的谷歌Chrome操作系统还具备其它优点，特别是对已在云端存储了电子邮件、文档和图片等大部分数据的移动工作者而言。例如Chrome笔记本的启动速度更快，其电池续航时间据称也长于传统笔记本。

    不过上述优点平板电脑也具备。在谷歌Chrome团队废寝忘食地完善Chrome笔记本时，摩托罗拉（Motorola）和三星（Samsung）已制造出搭载谷歌自有操作系统Android的平板电脑。当然，苹果iPad也在企业用户中变得越来越流行。我们不禁要问：既然企业客户买得起平板电脑，那他们凭什么要选择价格差不多的Chrome笔记本？

    谷歌已开始全面进军企业领域，这点毫无疑问。毕竟，企业客户是谷歌的主要对手微软的传统客户群，而且也有望成为谷歌新的收入来源。这家总部位于山景城的搜索巨头已通过向企业出售基于云端的商业应用初涉该领域，但我并不认为Chrome笔记本能赢得企业客户的芳心。不过谷歌是一家不怕实验的公司。它向来不吝于大举发布新产品，让用户决定自己是否需要它们。谷歌将与笔记本制造商合作，推出新的产品，然后观察收益如何。

    我们很快就能知道Chrome笔记本是否能取得成功。由三星和宏碁（Acer）制造的两款首发版Chrome笔记本将于6月15日上市。谷歌已公布了多家首批试点客户，其中包括美国航空公司（American Airlines）、罗技（Logitech）和KIPP（美国一个全国性的特许学校网络）等。它们将作为第一批实验者，检验学生、员工和高管们是否已准备好迎接几乎完全在谷歌云端上展开的数字生活。

    译者：项航

    Chrome, the web-centric operating system that Google hoped would revolutionize the computer industry, is finally ready for its star turn. This week, Google (GOOG) took the wraps off of its long-awaited Chrome OS netbooks (dubbed "Chromebooks") at its annual developer conference in San Francisco, I/O. It also revealed a hardware and software subscription plan aimed at businesses, schools and government customers.

    Here's the deal: Enterprise customers will pay a monthly fee starting at $28 per user for a Chromebook (schools pay $20 per student). The fee includes a cloud management console for remotely administering and managing users, devices and applications, plus what Google calls "enterprise-level support," device warranties and replacements. What's not included? Google Apps for Business. That means that if users want the company's enterprise-level app suite (which includes Gmail, Google Calendar and Docs and other applications), they'll have to pay an additional $50 a year per employee. (If you ask me, it would have made more sense to bundle all of Google's business offerings with the Chromebooks. Then again, nobody asked me.)

    Even so, the combined cost of Google's monthly Chromebook subscription and annual business apps fee is still likely to be lower than arming employees with full-powered laptops that run on either Microsoft (MSFT) Windows or Apple (AAPL) OS X operating systems. And Google's web-based Chrome OS has other advantages, especially for mobile workers who are already storing most of their data -- like emails, documents and photos -- in the cloud. For example, Chromebooks boot up faster and claim to have a much longer battery life than traditional laptops.

    Then again, so do tablets. And while Google's Chrome team was hard at work on perfecting the Chromebook, the company's very own Android OS was being refitted to power tablets from Motorola and Samsung. And of course, Apple's iPad has become more and more popular with business users. The rise of tablets begs the question -- why would corporate customers pick Chromebooks over equally affordable tablets?

    There's no doubt Google has been gunning for the enterprise. After all, corporations make up archrival Microsoft's traditional customer base and a potentially lucrative new revenue stream for Google. The Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant has made some headway in selling its cloud-based business applications to companies, but I'm just not sure Chromebooks are the way to winning corporate customers' hearts. Google, though, is a company unafraid to experiment. It's shown a repeated willingness to make big announcements about new products and let users decide whether they want them or not. They'll sign up big laptop makers, push out a product, and count votes at the cash register.

    We should find out whether Chromebooks is a winner for Google soon enough. The initial two Chromebooks, manufactured by Samsung and Acer, will launch on June 15. For now, Google has announced a series of pilot customers including American Airlines (AMR), Logitech (LOGI), and KIPP (a nationwide network of charter schools).They'll be the guinea pigs in determining whether students, workers and executives are really ready for a digital life that takes place almost exclusively on Google's cloud.