Google's Fuchsia OS operating system development director leaves! Android "successor" uncertain future

Recently, Chris McKillop, head of Google's Fuchsia OS operating system and development director, announced that he is leaving the company.

Google's Fuchsia OS chief announces his departure

On March 26, Chris McKillop officially announced the news on Twitter and wrote:

“Today, after 10 years, I've left Google. The team working on #Fuchsia is one the best ever assembled - I expect great things to come from them in the future. Time for my next adventure - will share more next week. "

"Today, 10 years later, I'm leaving Google's Fuchsia team, one of the best ever - and I look forward to great contributions from them in the future. It's time for my next adventure - next I'll share more this week."

Development of Google's Fuchsia operating system has been ongoing since 2016. Most of the time, the development of the project is led by Chris McKillop, director of engineering at Google.

In May 2021, Google released Fuchsia as an update for Nest Hub devices (Nest Hub devices were originally released as Google Home Hub in 2018). With this update, the operating system on the device will be changed from the Linux-based Cast OS Google previously used to Fuchsia. The Fuchsia update in the Nest Hub doesn't change the functionality visible to the user of the device, but everything should be the same to some extent. The home smart display experience is built on the Flutter framework, and the platform that operates under that framework will only change with updates.

Last year, Google began to deploy the Fuchsia OS operating system, and the team should continue to develop and adapt the system to more devices under the leadership of Chris McKillop, but now Chris McKillop is leaving Google and Fuchsia development work.

During Chris McKillop's ten years at Google, he not only led the continuous expansion of the Fuchsia OS project, helped Google build the Flutter team, but also participated in the Android TV team to do some initial development work.

For the detailed reasons for the sudden departure of Chris McKillop, the outside world is not known for the time being. Just now, the official Fuchsia OS team has also officially confirmed the news of Chris McKillop's departure on social media.

As an excellent developer, Chris McKillop developed the original iPhone OS system at Apple before joining Google; he later joined Palm and became one of the start-up team members developing webOS. Until he joined Google in 2012, he has been Engaged in operating system-related development work.

The future of Android "successor" is uncertain

Unlike Android, Fuchsia OS is not based on the kernel of the Linux operating system, but based on Google's own microkernel solution. In addition, there are differences in the basic starting point of the operating system: Fuchsia OS's architecture is built with more continuous updates in mind, and in addition to display devices, it can also be better optimized for voice devices.

Therefore, the departure of Chris McKillop has made the outside world talk about the future development prospects of Google's Fuchsia project.

According to reports, as early as October 2021, Google was already publishing some job advertisements looking for professionals to apply Fuchsia to a wider range of devices. It is worth noting that some job advertisements also mentioned a company called Fuchsia Devices. team.

For example, one of the job advertisements that has been placed reads: "In 2021, we launched Fuchsia on millions of Google smart displays, now is the time to expand to more smart devices and other device formats. Join us , in partnership with the next generation of Google's operating system!"

There's also a job ad showing that the device team at Fuchsia aims to expand Nest and Google Assistant to new device formats with "true consumer devices." Interestingly, these job ads also suggest that Fucchia is being used on devices other than Google's own. Another job ad suggested that the job description included "influencing hardware decisions made by partners."

Although Google's future plans are not known yet, in addition to the Google Home Hub/Nest Hub, Fuchsia may appear on Google's other smart displays, the Nest Hub Max and the second-generation Nest Hub.

And in the future, Fuchsia could also be part of an entirely new device. For example, in addition to home smart devices, Google has also tested the Fuchsia OS system on its Pixelbook laptops.

According to Google, Fuchsia will become Android's "successor" from time to time, and it will not be replaced by a new operating system in the future. Back in the spring of 2019, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google's head of Android, Chrome OS and the Play Store, tempered those expectations.

Although Google has denied the rumors of Fuchsia and Android "replacement", from the outside world, the ultimate goal of the Fuchsia OS team is to become Android's long-term "successor". Of course, this process still has a long way to go.