Google Announces Chrome Operating System
Just when you think all Google has up its sleeve is the removal of some beta labels, the company unveils its plans for an operating system based around its Chrome web browser.
After rethinking browsing, Google has decided to do the same thing with operating and late Tuesday the company announced that it was working on its own open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks.
Details are scant at the moment. We know that it will run on both ARM and x86 chips, and we know that we'll see netbooks running the software in the latter half of 2010 (Google says its already talking to partners). Because they're stripping everything down and going back to OS basics, users won't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. According to Google, "It should just work."
"The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel," writes Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management at Google. "For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies," he explains, adding that, "of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform."
For those of you wondering what this will mean for Android, Google assures that this is a completely separate project. The Chrome OS is created for people who spend most of their time online and is designed to power computers of all shapes and sizes, from netbooks to desktops. Google does concede that there are areas of the two that overlap but goes on to say that choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone.
Check out the full blog post about Chrome OS by clicking here.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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sublifer People do use netbooks while not connected to the internet... so what are people supposed to do with a ChromeOS netbook when they don't have an internet connection? It'd just be an over-sized paperweight.Reply -
doomtomb Everything web-based: good for netbooks but not for more powerful laptops and desktops. What happens when your security is compromised because you foolishly did EVERYTHING over the web. What happens when your internet is down in your area? Your operating system stops working?Reply
We all know, this is good for competition and what-not but Google is interested in gaming and what-not. They just want a piece of the pie and Google is slowly taking over the world, one computer at a time. -
zahan MicroSucks is gonna be p*ssed, serves them right though for making only cream filled OS and not having a liteweight option.Reply -
Cache But will it run games? If I can't enjoy my PC to its fullest, I'll stick with what does--even if I have to pay Redmond through the nose for it.Reply
Still, I'm excited to see what options they will have for this, as netbooks are only the tip of the iceberg (a platform I expect them to expand from very quickly). -
Upendra09 if Apple got on this, they would dominate the market.Reply
As for google i like it, i would definately trust the OS, but would still stay with windows. if i got a new comp maybe i would use the chrome OS. The browser is awesome so the OS might be too. -
cimtaurus CacheBut will it run games? If I can't enjoy my PC to its fullest, I'll stick with what does--even if I have to pay Redmond through the nose for it. Still, I'm excited to see what options they will have for this, as netbooks are only the tip of the iceberg (a platform I expect them to expand from very quickly).Says open source...doesn't necessarily mean free but I would guess they advertise on your OS to make cash rather than charge you for it. Let's face it, the primary model that Google uses is ad based revenue so it wouldn't be a far stretch for them to ad base your OS.Reply