Google Chrome OS

Until today, Google’s Chrome OS has been little more than a wordy concept. Now, finally, we truly know what it is, what it looks like, and how it works. Here’s the breakdown:

Google went to great pains to emphasize that today’s event wasn’t a launch—that’ll come a year from now, apparently, with a public beta still well over the horizon. This is all about a seeing the OS for the first time; understanding in real terms how it’s different from what’s out there; figuring out why you might actually want to use it; etc. So! Here’s what we knew going in:

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks” and “most of the user experience takes place on the web.” That is, it’s “Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel” with the web as the platform. It runs on x86 processors (like your standard Core 2 Duo) and ARM processors (like inside every mobile smartphone). Underneath lies security architecture that’s completely redesigned to be virus-resistant and easy to update.

Like I said, there were plenty of questions. Onwards:

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