Google Gives A Peak At Chrome OS

Google’s Chrome operating system is designed for PCs that do their work on the Web. The Chrome OS resembles a Web browser more than it does a traditional computer operating system like Microsoft Windows.

Google said the software will initially be available on low-cost netbooks that meet Google’s hardware specifications, such as using only memory chips to store data instead of slower hard drives, the current standard.

Netbooks running Chrome OS will only be able to run Web applications and the user’s data will automatically be stored on the Web in the so-called cloud of Internet servers.

Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management for Google’s Chrome OS, said that computers running Chrome OS will be able to start in less than seven seconds. “From the time you press boot you want it to be like a TV. You turn it on and you should be on the Web using your applications,” Pichai said.

Google said it is giving away the software for free, similar to its Android smartphone software, with the idea that improving the Web experience will ultimately benefit its Internet search advertising business.
The company has also made the computer code for the Chrome OS available to outside developers, allowing developers to tinker with the software and potentially design new applications to run alongside it.

Reuters