Google announces Chrome OS, coming to netbooks second half of 2010

We can't believe it's actually here, but after hearing whispers of a Google OS for what seems like ages now, the company's now gone official with its plans. According to the official developer blog, it'll be an open source, lightweight platform that can "power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems," and will be capable of running on x86 (that includes Intel Atom) and ARM chips. Addressing potential overlap with Android-based netbooks, the official line is that "choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google" -- a pretty wild statement to make, but hey, it's still all Google. A large portion of its fresh out of beta Google Apps suite already supports an offline mode, so we guess the groundwork's laid out. The company says it's currently working with a number of OEM manufacturers and that it'll initially appear on a number of netbooks coming to market sometime in the second half of 2010. Excited? We are.

[killermojo @ Jul 8th 2009 1:03AM]

This is really, really cool.

[skeptical @ Jul 8th 2009 1:19AM]

What happens to all the turd*nix lovers then?

[Errorkid @ Jul 8th 2009 1:28AM]

--What happens to all the turd*nix lovers then?

The same they always do: blame Micro$oft and write crappy half-working open source apps.
2009, the year this *nix joke hopefully dies a painful death.

[glenskey @ Jul 8th 2009 1:54AM]

YEEAAHH!!!!!!! wooo!

[Aguiluz @ Jul 8th 2009 2:12AM]

I was turned off from Google Chrome from their "data mining" scheme. I wonder what is on Chrome OS.

http://is.gd/1qNtS-
(Promise, that links to CNET and not crap.)

[shimei @ Jul 8th 2009 2:39AM]

I don't know if this *nix hating is a joke, but the announcement clearly says this new OS is based on Linux.

[arash @ Jul 8th 2009 3:11AM]

at the end all the unix based os manufacturers will know that even google could not bring a unix based(linux based) operation system suitable for home and office use,after that big waste(osx) and little fails(ubuntu and other(though i love linux specially suse)) now with google in game with a little help from time warner and friends(with their big mind washing systems) maybe microsoft share will drop to 70% but that makes game just funnier.

[Myke @ Jul 8th 2009 3:30AM]

@arash

dude really how bout you run into the nearest wall next to you and low-rank yourself.

[d889 @ Jul 8th 2009 3:41AM]

honestly this doesnt seem that special at all, like arash said above ( ... at least i think thats what he was saying) linux can barely sell on netbooks as it is, i dont see google doing anything different.

my mom cant understand any OS besides windows, what is this chrome os going to do to change that?

because honestly unless this thing runs unbelievably fast or something, all of us normal people will just install XP over the top just because the google chrome netbook is $50 cheaper than the xp one

[Errorkid @ Jul 8th 2009 4:53AM]

--- honestly this doesnt seem that special at all, like arash said above

It is.

Google Chrome has a few features which set it apart from other browsers. One of the is "Native Client" which is still under development. NC allows developers to run apps in the browser, but at the speed of apps which run on your OS by using native client code.

In other words: it's very likely that the websites in 2010 and onwards will not have html/css but a compiled piece of code which runs inside the browser window as if it was an application you launched from the desktop. Server-Client interaction on steroids.

The good news: this makes it possible to run applications on linux without all that freedom crap, programmers/webdevs can actually make a living from their code on linux.

Downside: Google loves your behaviour, they'll now be in full control of the desktop as they're dropping KDE/Gnome and building their own.

I'm not a *nix fan due to all the crap and zealotry, but this move will be bullseye for Google.

[jakem @ Jul 8th 2009 4:56AM]

Surely a Google OS would be based around a keylogger and would be designed "backup" to Google every few minutes.

[Errorkid @ Jul 8th 2009 5:01AM]

--Surely a Google OS would be based around a keylogger and would be designed "backup" to Google every few minutes.

Since the first apps will be those already available at Google labs you won't need to backup ...

I wonder whether MS will try to push C# on NC

[Terry @ Jul 8th 2009 8:03AM]

Nice announcement... Let's hope it isn't built on any archaic graphical toolkits circa-early-90's (GTK...)

[Alan Strangis @ Jul 8th 2009 10:39AM]

Would have been cooler 2 years ago, when netbooks were new and there was room for a 'brand name' version of Linux that the average joe would be comfortable with. Now, with Windows 7 around the corner and some decent graphics on netbooks finally hitting the shelves, it might be a tough sell to get consumers to buy into it.

If it's up to snuff, I'd use it in a dual boot situation on my netbook (currently Ubuntu and Windows 7).

[jbuers @ Jul 8th 2009 12:28PM]

If this is anything like the Haiku project, awesome!

[cashmonee @ Jul 8th 2009 9:17PM]

"Errorkid @ Jul 8th 2009 4:53AM

--- honestly this doesnt seem that special at all, like arash said above

It is.

Google Chrome has a few features which set it apart from other browsers. One of the is "Native Client" which is still under development. NC allows developers to run apps in the browser, but at the speed of apps which run on your OS by using native client code.

In other words: it's very likely that the websites in 2010 and onwards will not have html/css but a compiled piece of code which runs inside the browser window as if it was an application you launched from the desktop. Server-Client interaction on steroids."

This sounds like a security nightmare.

[Rob @ Jul 9th 2009 4:12PM]

"What happens to all the turd*nix lovers then?"

You do know that the Chrome OS is Linux right? Now get back on the short bus...

[EnergyPigeon @ Jul 8th 2009 1:03AM]

so whats happening to android???

[acme @ Jul 8th 2009 1:05AM]

stays on phones, where it belongs

[killermojo @ Jul 8th 2009 1:06AM]

Did you read the post?

[Mitchell @ Jul 8th 2009 1:51AM]

@killermojo

See, when the post was first submitted to engadget, it was smaller.
Then, the edited it before you saw it.

It was only a sentence long post with no picture...

[Temple @ Jul 8th 2009 8:17AM]

Being that both Android and Chrome OS are Linux based they likely share a lot of work and will have a large degree of compatibility. The best thing for Android is to be the best phone OS it can instead of a jack-of-all-trades-ace-of-none.

[newjaruz @ Jul 8th 2009 1:04AM]

Sounds great. I will purchase a new netbook if the platform is good... not that I doubt google will deliver a solid experiance.

[The Observer @ Jul 8th 2009 6:52AM]

Thats what I was thinking too.. but its going to be tough up-hill battle for Google, especially with Win7 coming out..

[Version03 @ Jul 8th 2009 1:04AM]

Awesome.

[Mitchell @ Jul 8th 2009 1:05AM]

Goodness, this is huge news.. lol.

I can't wait, windows 7 is fine for now though ;)

[kojo87 @ Jul 8th 2009 1:42AM]

very pumped for Windows 7! while Windows will no doubt remain as my primary OS, i will definitely dualboot Chrome OS. btw is that really what we have to call it? that just sounds lame.

[Clyde Berry @ Jul 8th 2009 1:51AM]

I'm also hoping they come up with a better name by the time they finalize this thing. Exciting news either way.

[Aleksey @ Jul 8th 2009 2:03AM]

um.... it's free, i'm pretty sure if it's free you can ship whatever you want with it... =P

[NeoJew @ Jul 8th 2009 2:08AM]

It's big news, but I wouldn't dream of switching from a full OS to this.
It sounds like it's primarily for netbooks and maybe to dual boot with a desktop if you want to boot into a light-weight OS real quick and check your e-mail.
I'm extremely hard for Google and I'll definitely play around with this, but I don't see it taking a chunk out of Microsoft's market share except in the netbook market where you want small and cheap. Just cause it's open source doesn't mean it'll be free, but I assume it'll be cheaper than Windows and you have a decent spreadsheet program and word processor without having to buy Office, so it should do well there.

[Guy @ Jul 8th 2009 1:06AM]

It won't ship with Google's Chrome browser in the EU though will it?

[Kemwer @ Jul 8th 2009 1:16AM]

I'm curious about how that will work as well (just curious, not worried, since I don't live there), because as far as we can extract from the little information available on the Google Blog, it's not like Windows where you can uninstall IE even if some OS functions are somewhat entwined to it.

From what we can get, Chrome here IS the OS, just like Palm's webOS itself is a browser, so there won't be a way to sell Chrome OS without it.

[Jagster @ Jul 8th 2009 1:50AM]

As long as Google provides a mechanism for letting the user pick which browser he wants to install from the get-go. That or ship it browserless.

[DivinoAG @ Jul 8th 2009 2:02AM]

"The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel."

So no, it won't ship browserless, or with another browser.

[L @ Jul 8th 2009 4:08AM]

This generally sounds a bit like an invitation for an anti-trust investigation to me if it becomes a success...

[silver @ Jul 8th 2009 4:23AM]

I'm guessing the key here is that it will be free, open source.

[giuliop @ Jul 8th 2009 6:01AM]

I can't believe you still haven't understood the simple concept behind the ruling, which I'll repeat: Microsoft used its dominant position in the OS market to force IE on users. Now ask yourself, where is Google's dominant position in the OS market?

[giuliop @ Jul 8th 2009 6:12AM]

"This generally sounds a bit like an invitation for an anti-trust investigation to me if it becomes a success..."

Not at all. If the browser is an integral part of the OS, there can be no OS without a browser. Microsoft tried to demonstrate that IE was an integral part of Windows, but they failed, mostly because it is plain bullshit, as it is obvious that you can substitute IE with any other browser and remove it altogether - a thing they, in fact, did with Windows 7.
If this Google OS won't work without its browser, the browser will be an integral part of the OS. So no chance of mindless anti-trust investigations at all, sorry.

[Alex @ Jul 8th 2009 9:17AM]

Haha... zing!

Because of double standards and all.

[wjousts @ Jul 8th 2009 9:34AM]

@guiliop: I can't believe you still haven't understood the simple concept behind the ruling. Replace OS with Search and you have your anti-trust suit.

[giuliop @ Jul 8th 2009 9:46AM]

@wjousts
Uh, no. Microsoft's dominant position translates in their OS being installed on a large percentage of computers, that's why they can force the use of a browser. You buy the PC, it has Windows installed and IE comes with it; it's as simple as that.
Google can't force the use of its browser simply because their OS isn't installed on the majority of the machines; in fact, it doesn't even exist.
As to the 'Search' function, you're wrong again. Google has a dominant position in the search market because it is the best search engine, or at least people think so. But no one forces them to use it and if they do so, they're doing it willingly. So no ground for any antitrust case, sorry.

[the4thheat @ Jul 9th 2009 12:51AM]

There absolutely is a parallel here if the MS ruling is valid. For one thing Chrome defaults to searching google right now, which is ok because Chrome doesn't come on your computer. But if they start shipping computers that come only with Chrome, and force you to use Gmail and the other Google Apps, as well as defaulting the search to Google it can be argued that they're leveraging their dominant search and dominant e-mail programs to lock people into continuing to use their search and other apps. And Google does make money on all this via the ads and data mining so whether it's "free" or not won't factor into this.
Of course there'll be more of a case when offline versions of Google apps only run on Chrome OS and/or Chrome, because that'll be plainly blatant.

[DirtyVegas @ Jul 8th 2009 1:06AM]

I'm sure it'll come with a whole bunch of quirks that will annoy at first but become universal real quick.

Still, great stuff. Competition's great, and google almost always innovates.

[bioadam @ Jul 8th 2009 9:41AM]

Competition is awesome for us consumers. Unless you own a lot of MS stock, you should be saying "Oh yeah!" to this.

[paul34 @ Jul 8th 2009 1:06AM]

(cue comments about Google taking over the world)

[Gad Get @ Jul 8th 2009 1:51AM]

Google's taking over the world. Do you agree?

[Gad Get @ Jul 8th 2009 1:52AM]

Yeah, they really are.

[Gad Get @ Jul 8th 2009 1:52AM]

Definitely taking over the world. Absolutely.

[y3k.nik @ Jul 8th 2009 9:08AM]

waiting for Google Skynet beta to launch... removed from beta status after the world is conquered, with the back to beta option included of course..

[AlCapa @ Jul 8th 2009 1:07AM]

Long live Google...( assuming they don't devolve into something mean )