Odd thing that Dell is not in that list. Are they getting a special deal with Microsoft to implement a netbook- optimized version of 7 on their minis?

Since it's Linux based it is going to fail. It will be out there just like Google Desktop Search bar but nobody is going to use it.

Problems with Linux: No Gaming, Limited Hardware Support. It simply doesn't work for average Joe which represents 98% of the PC market.
Google will get user friendly UI on top of it, i am sure of it. Since it will run web based google apps, i have new for Google. It's not gonna work in dial up areas.

Infact Ubunty already did what Google is trying to do, but i guess has no that Google sticker on it. It reminds me of President Obama syndrom and election when a lot of people thought they will become 'rich' when President Obama gets elected.

@freak77power

Yes. All those EEEpcs and AcerOnes and HPminis I see people bringing to LAN parties to play Starcraft and Crysis deathmatches.

Also, Google make webmail hip. They might be able to give Winders a run for it's money.

Damn. My kingdom for an edit button.

It's probably not going to singlehandedly crush Windows or OS-X. But I can see something like this dominating netbooks and MIDs.

I would only shift to a linux OS if linux is cappable in running microsoft windows games

@sstym

Dell has already been under litigation for making illegal exclusive deals with Intel, I'm sure it's not hard to imagine them with tight contract bindings with Microsoft as well.

The systems they are targeting on first won't have games like Crysis or Starcraft II on it, so it won't matter if they can play it on that os or not. Also hardware shouldn't be a problem if it's in a netbook, as how many times would you replace parts rather than just buy a new one?

Until the netbook replaces laptops or pc's for gaming and start to require or allow switching hardware easy and cheap, I don't see an issue with a google OS.

Of course their 2nd plan is to target the desktop too and that's where they will run into problems. To drive out windows from most peoples computers, they will need to have some way to play games and switch hardware without problems and an easy way to deal with it.

They do have the name to do it, but if it really will happen, it depends on all the gaming companies and the willingness to make games for googleOS.

It's gonna take a year or more after it's release to get it up to par with Windows. If it ever even gets up to par.

I don't know why people are going on about gaming for this. It's a netbook, it isn't designed for gaming. The real advantage of a google netbook is that it's almost instant boot up and then connects to the cloud. The thing that would make this really sell is a 3G/4G antenna in it as well as the wireless N.

man that sucks. when was the last time a company made a completely new OS with its own kernel instead of using plain old Linux? i know its more cost effective to use the Linux kernel but it is not the way to beat windows.

Oh, and they should work to bundle it as a freebie for say a new Verizon/Sprint/Comcast/AT&T, etc. contract. If they really want to challenge Microsoft and Apple they're going to need to get the thing out into the market in an efficient and effective way, not the shitty marketing campaign they did for the Android phone. Google doesn't seem to understand consumer marketing like Microsoft, and especially Apple, do.

probably a nail in the "XP on netbooks" coffin..
Also, if netbook Chrome OS really takes off, I can see it developing into a full fledged OS in a few years. And being Unix-based, could be a real alternative to MacOS for people who enjoy tweaking their computers...

Google already has some experience with their Google OS that they put on those cheap $199 computers. It's just a modified Ubuntu distribution. Still, it will be interesting to see what improvements and modifications Google will have made to it.

The problem with the argument against games is that if Google OS ever did become popular, they could pay someone to port games to the OS.

Linux doesn't have games because they have $0 to port the games over with. They find alternatives like WINE and Cedega. Mac OS X has games, apple just hasn't explored the graphically-intensive market much.

Yeah...why are you talking about gaming? It's not being advertised for that nor is it made for it. I guess it's because everybody is used to having one product that can do it all.

But with this OS, think of it having a specialty. The internet. Is it for everybody? No. Will it sell though? Absolutely.

@doc10, No it'll just prompt Microsoft to make Windows XP a $1 distribution which it practically is /now/ for netbooks.

Why do folks like Apple and Google get such credit for writing an OS when they did nothing but reskin Linux? Come on if they are that great why not build one from the ground up? Oh wait..they aren't. Ok.. they have done nice things to the usability of the OS (but I always liked KDA and Gnome...but when that's the main thing you only have to worry about it's easier to get it done. And in Apple's case...they even have it easier since it is proprietary and only have to support it on proprietary hardware. OOOhhh they are such great developers....try writing something that will work on virtually all PC hardware....and support it too.

You guys make good points that people shouldn't talk about games because Netbooks aren't designed for gameing. Thats certainly true now. But what about more than a year from now, when this OS will finally be coming out? You are going to see much stronger hardware in "Netbooks" Sure it wont be able to play Crysis still, but I wouldn't be suprised if netbooks at that time can easily play more moderate games. And putting games aside, meatier hardware will mean people want to put on more meatier programs, such as Office and other productivity apps. And as much as you might hate Microsoft, you have to admit that their OS is still kind when it comes to compatibility with applications. So I think this Google OS might have made a strong impact if it were released now. But a year from now? Windows 7 starter will have a very firm foothold with Netbooks and the hardware will have evolved to a point where you have to wonder what the difference between "Netbook" and "Notebook" are anymore, other than size. So I'm a little skeptical of the impact this OS will make.

M$ takes shot at Google's Search Engine (Bing). Google takes shot at M$ bread and butter (Chrome OS). It will be interesting to see what this will look like in 10 years.

Tom's Hardware really needs to work on its grammar and sentence fluency.

I definitely don't see this OS being used at home. Like at all. This is more for the traveling/business person who is always on the go and is stopping at the airport Starbucks to read up on some e-mails/check, the stock market or read up on a few blogs.

I think a lot of you are trying to see this being used at home and I don't believe that's what Google is trying to accomplish here. They are trying to target the business market.

One statement from Google's Official Blog about Chrome OS said, "Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds".

They are going for fast, efficient and care free when it comes to this OS. They want it to have a "Plug & Play" ability if you will, except with the internet. Turn on, browse, turn off. Simple.

And yeah, maybe when the full blown OS comes out it MIGHT have the ability to run SOME form of a game. Maybe something like Warcraft III on medium/low settings.

Or it'll just be able to play flash games with max settings. =P

Who knows.

Port games over? The OS vendor does not port games over, they don't own the source code (it would be illegal for them to port without owning it or getting permission). When there are millions of these boxes out there, and people see these things generating a good percentage of web hits (websites know which browser types are visiting), then the game vendors will write their games to run on these boxes (within the limits of the hardware). That's why all of the pc games are written for Windows (huge market share).

Google may also be taking the Apple approach to PC's. Sell the OS and hardware as a bundle with all the components tested. This is once again an advantage of MS's market share. When (insert company name here) comes out with a piece of hardware, that manufacturer is going to insure that device works in Windows, not MS.

The difference between Google and Apple would be that Google will probably let you download and play with their OS with no strings attached (it is Linux after all), they will even probably support you with wiki's and the like.

to those who are saying something about gaming.

If this make a boom in the market
let me tell you, this is going to have as much games as windows..

[citation][nom]smfrazz[/nom]Why do folks like Apple and Google get such credit for writing an OS when they did nothing but reskin Linux? [/qutoe]
Man, there's so much more to making an operating system than "reskinnning" the kernel. Why don't you try building a usable desktop Linux-based OS from scratch and tell us if it amounts to little more than "reskinning" anything.

So what compelling benefit does this offer over existing Linux based netbooks? There is a reason that XP is on the majority of them today: people want it.

The only thing Google brings to the table is their name. I doubt that that alone is going to be enough to convince any large number of people to abandon the familiarity of Windows.