From Google: Introducing the Google Chrome OS

That's very interesting, it sounds like what gOS tried to accomplish.

Thanks for posting this Greg.

Google. It's not just for the net anymore

Oh, I don't know. It looks like the only client software this will run is Google Chrome. It's a bit like Amazon Kindle, but for Web applications instead of books.

Personally, I can't see myself giving up on my Ubuntu installation for this. Hopefully it won't mean Linux vendors like Dell will give up selling Ubuntu either.

My other gripe is Chrome OS won't have the massive community and sense of inclusion that Ubuntu has garnered. Like Chrome the browser this has an autocratic feel to it, the OS is a strategic vehicle for Google's corporate goals, unlike Ubuntu it will not move in the direction the users want.

In short: Ubuntu is 'Let's make a really great OS, people enjoy using, then try to make some cash out of services based on that OS.' Whereas Google is, 'Let's push our advertising and screw Microsoft by creating an OS that only works with Web applications.' That's how it looks to me anyway, other opinions may vary.

Megan has a point.

Currently there is a polarisation between MS on the one hand and the *nix freetards on the other.

Each group views the other with a certain amount of disdain (well, they do in my part of the world), with the MS fans turning their noses up and saying things like "you get what you pay for" and "MS is for professionals, Linux is for amateurs" and the *nix-heads making similarly disparaging remarks.

Google's offering might, as a compromise between these two stances, go someway to reconciling these viewpoints for the vendors like Dell and others.

OTOH, any operating system is only as good as the applications that can run on it, so if it can't run what the user wants it to run (and I'm thinking games here ) then it'll probably fail.

The promise of broadband everywhere is changing the way we can communicate online. Google’s Chrome OS may or may not make it, but the attempt shows how far the industry has come from a bulky PC chained to a desk by its power cord and Ethernet cable. The computer is evolving from those dinosaurs to a smaller, mobile model that is always connected to the web. The iPhone brought us apps that are lightweight so users don’t get bogged down by smaller processors and slower wireless web connections on mobile devices. Google’s Chrome OS attempts to keep that speed, while preserving a platform for Google to make money through advertising. But it’s far from a done deal.