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Google to Demonstrate Chrome OS in Thursday Event

Google plans to host an event on Thursday morning to provide an overview of Chrome OS, its upcoming PC operating system. Google announced Chrome OS in July, 2009 without disclosing many details about the operating system. What’s known is that Chrome will be a lightweight, open-source, Linux-based OS with a strong focus on web surfing […]


Google plans to host an event on Thursday morning to provide an overview of Chrome OS, its upcoming PC operating system.

Google announced Chrome OS in July, 2009 without disclosing many details about the operating system. What's known is that Chrome will be a lightweight, open-source, Linux-based OS with a strong focus on web surfing using the Google Chrome browser. Applications will run mostly inside the browser, which in effect turns the web into the platform. The Chrome OS will initially be targeted at netbooks — low-powered, miniature notebooks, Google said in July.

Still, we have yet to see any official visuals of the OS, and thus far the media has only speculated about Chrome's potential. Google has said Thursday's event will give a "complete overview" of the OS with technical background and demonstrations.

Some questions to ponder on before Thursday's event:

  • Will Google indeed proceed with plans to target the Chrome OS at netbooks? Compared to 2008, this year's netbook shipments are slowing down, and the miniature devices are proving to be a recession-driven fad. Why target the OS at a played-out product category?
  • What apps does Google have in store to launch with the OS? The success of a platform's launch, after all, is largely determined by its initial software offerings.
  • Will all apps be web-based, or will the OS support native programs as well? Apple's first-generation iPhone supported web-based apps, and the company was roundly criticized for not providing access to the device's native APIs until a year later.
  • When can we have the OS? Since Chrome is open source, we can expect that having the OS will be as easy as downloading and installing it onto our PCs. Google hasn't provided a time frame of when we can expect the OS, but hopefully Thursday will provide an official launch date.

Have any more questions? Post them in the comments below. Wired.com will be attending the event to try to get your questions answered.

Via TechCrunch

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Photo illustration: Charlie Sorrel/Wired.com; Original photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com