Google Chrome OS

20/11/09 posted by Liz Niland

If you’re a Google fan - and lets face it, the majority of you are - you’ll be interested to know Google are one step closer to world domination.

Launching Chromium OS, their attempt at a revolutionary operating system, as an open source project yesterday, Google are proclaiming they’ve made an OS based on modern technology - not one whose foundations were built before the dawn of the internet.

Functioning more like a flick-the-switch television set than a traditional boot-up computer, Chrome OS is light weight and doesn’t require periodic program updates because nothing is stored on the computer - it is effectively a highly optimised version of Google’s Chrome browser. It’s a tricky concept to come to terms with - particularly for those who didn’t grow up with the internet - but, because all your files and activities are confined to the land of online, you’ll have yourself a much more secure, and speedier, computer.

Obviously you’re going to need a decent broadband connection to make Chrome OS a worthy investment. It was also said that this OS can’t be installed on any old machine - a Google approved range of hardware is set to be released. As reported in the Guardian, Sundar Pichai, a Google vice president of product management, doesn’t see Chrome OS as the be all and end all of PCs, expecting users to have another traditional-style system available to them. "There are some applications that are not available on the web. There are some things that this machine will not be able to do," said Sundar. "It's a companion device."

For some screenshots of the initial Chrome OS, check out Gizmodo.