Google today previewed Chrome OS, their attempt at an operating system to compete with Windows, Mac OS X, and with distributions of Linux. By design, there really isn't much to Chrome OS. Google is aiming at simplicity, speed, and security; keeping the OS minimalistic is certainly a way to accomplish those things.

Google's Chrome OS

The Web

Google's concept of Chrome OS, coming in one year, is centered around the web. They surmise that the first thing a person does after a computer boots is to launch the web browser in order to check email, read news, shop, play games, etc. So Chrome OS is centered around this notion. With a reported boot time of 7 seconds, Chrome OS is up and instantly connected to the internet, no waiting for craplets to load or for the OS to hand control over to the user. You can turn on your computer and in a matter of seconds be surfing the web.

The Cloud

All applications in Chrome OS are web based. This means that very little data will actually be stored on computers running the OS. You'll be able to watch videos, listen to music, create and manage documents, etc all from the web. This also means that your personal data will not be saved on your Chrome OS computer, but in the internet cloud.

This cloud storage and usage of web-based apps is intriguing, and some actually prefer it. From my perspective, cloud computing is nothing but a bag of concern. Most of us who already use cloud storage (MiniMe, web-mail such as Yahoo Mail and Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, etc) don't give much thought into where our personal info and documents are being stored. Is it really wise to hand over so much private files and info to large corporations? What if the company's storage servers are breeched and accessed by hackers? What if the company has a disgruntled employee who decides to hack into customers' personal data? How much of our data really is safe? Not to hop on the "Big Brother" train of paranoia, but I think that cloud storage and cloud apps should really give more people pause.

Additionally, there is the whole "user control" aspect that is completely absent in Chrome OS (and the internet cloud). Because Chrome OS is simple, it has next to no user-defined settings. Although Google is touting this as a good thing, I happen to feel that users want some level of control over their computing experiences. Also, with web-based apps, it is doubtful that heavy computing will be done in Chrome OS. For example, photo editing would be quite a painful and slow process with a web app running on a low-powered netbook.

Open Sourced

Google, in hopes of making Chrome OS as useful and secure as possible, has now Open Sourced the software, allowing anyone to contribute features, security, stability, etc to the software with Google making the ultimate decision on what to include.

Today we are open-sourcing the project as Chromium OS. We are doing this early, a year before Google Chrome OS will be ready for users, because we are eager to engage with partners, the open source community and developers. As with the Google Chrome browser, development will be done in the open from this point on. This means the code is free, accessible to anyone and open for contributions.

The Continual Expansion Of Google

I have previously expressed my doubts about Chrome OS. Designed for netbooks, Chrome OS will have a very small market share. Most consumers won't even know what Chrome OS is nor know that it will be a Microsoft Windows alternative. But I don't think netbooks will be Google's only target. We have seen Google continue to expand by entering new markets. For example, Google developed Android, the OS found on some smartphones, and recently, Google helped design the Droid phone. Most recently, rumors have begun to surface that there will soon be a Google branded smartphone. Google may have a similar roadmap for Chrome OS with an eventual Google branded computer.

Even so, I'll be surprised if Google's OS will take anything away from Microsoft Windows or Apple's Mac OS X. As far as computing goes, most are satisfied with their operating systems. Users who buy a netbook want a familiar interface, hence they will likely choose Windows.

As for me, I'm always interested in alternative operating systems. I currently have several computers running Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, MAc Os X 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, and 10.6, Ubuntu 9.04, 9.10 and Fedora 11. Adding another Os to the bunch won't be too much of a drastic change and I plan on giving Chrome OS a try, but I will never use it daily. Coming from Google with the help of the Open Source community, I'm sure it will be a solid system, but I'm far too paranoid about cloud computing to make Chrome OS a frequently used system.

Below is a video demonstrating Chrome OS. I found it to be a bit overly simplistic , but I think it will give you an idea of where Google's concept is coming from.